La Luce della Luna
by IsabellaDangelo
Summary: I saw the flames continued to burn and Jane crumble into ash beneath the orange and yellow glow. My scent was here. Elizabetta's scent was here... This is the companion piece to The Stars and the Sun; sort of like it's Midnight Sun. Canon with OCs
1. Chapter 1

La luce della Luna

Disclaimer: Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stephine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

Summary: The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

Author's note: So um…it's been two months since I finished The Stars and the Sun and it shouldn't have taken that long. Sorry. I honestly have a very good excuse. Both of my computers decided to die. My brand new got-it-the-day-I-finished-the-Stars-and-the-Sun laptop decided to die after a week and a half. The hard drive made a funny noise and that was it. Luckily, it was under warranty so I just sent it in and got it back a couple of weeks later and it's all pretty again. However, about a week after it went, my desktop decided that it hated that I finally beat the last part of this game that I had been trying to beat FOREVER and died. I managed to Frankenstien the desktop but I needed a full Windows CD –not just the update- to really get it up and working. So, I had to wait on the CD…from Australia. Now, both computers are working and I can write again. Thank God!

Rather important note, pretty much anything in italics is either a fun little prologue or English. Gabriel thinks in Italian –mostly early 16th century Italian, but Italian. Because of that, (and since I don't know Italian) I decided to just go with only the English being in italics and the Italian looking "normal". Also, this is so rated M. You should figure out why by chapter three. Did I mention that Gabriel can be a dirty old murderer?

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Chapter 1

_Upon that misty night  
in secrecy, beyond such mortal sight  
Without a guide or light  
than that which burned so deeply in my heart  
That fire t'was led me on  
and shone more bright than of the midday sun  
To where he waited still  
it was a place where no one else could come _

–_Loreena McKennit, Dark night of the soul_

The day nor the month held little meaning for me though I knew it to be the seventh of April in the two thousand and sixth year of our Lord, for such things were but figures for those that do not age and do not truly live. I had no need to breathe or to even move for I may go for days without the thirst even beginning to burn within my throat as if it were a testament to the fires that awaited to consume me in Hell should I be taken from this purgatory of existence and brought to my final justice. I did not live, I existed and those I hunted this night may have but a beat of a heart to show that they live more than do I but it was their only saving grace. I had need of but one of the two that I followed and thought upon the one that smelled sweetly of the stench of a more floral scented blood. I cared not to decipher his scent but only to devour it prior to my next meal in two weeks.

Upon my watch of the two men as I followed lightly upon the roof tops if not from behind them or across the street from them, I grew more angry at my prey for their various misdeeds and vileness; if I am but the monster then what are the creatures that rape and leave their victims to a slow death? Are they not truly the demons of this Earth that roam more freely than I am able to in my accursed form? If God did curse me for my deeds from within my human flesh why does he not curse those that take the last innocence of a child? Is it only for he knows that I shall take their lives and leave their burning bodies in such a way that these creatures might be identified by the police as the putrid souls locked inside the sweet smelling pieces of flesh that they so be? For this, did I hope because, if it were as such, then God might still hold some mercy upon me and not let me go to the pits of Hell this night.

I knew that Hell was to be where I shall be sent upon the End of Days if my final death does not come sooner than that. For where else would one be sent that had killed a man of God within God's own house for the simple act of remaining steadfast within the man's own convictions? From that place did I run as a coward straight into the demon's arms and bring this cursed existence upon myself. I am now the killer of those that kill, those that take what is not theirs to take, the very least of society who have shown no remorse or anything other that joy in their own vileness; I drink from those that have souls as dark as mine must have been upon the day I lost it forever.

The one with the sweet smelling blood spoke his goodbyes to part ways with the other. I had little doubt within me that I shall track the other upon yet another day or week in which my path would cross his again and then make him my supper. For now, he would live, but only by the grace of his friend's blood, as such held it's hold upon me.

The sweet one dove down a street, away from the crowds that were thick upon the never sleeping streets of the city. In all my years that I hath traveled, to this city did I return for it's never exhausting supply of blood but also the ability to never have need of leaving for I could become yet another nameless face within the crowd of unsuspecting humans. It was here that I had chosen to call home, far from the land of my human birth and far from the place where I was damned to eternal night.

Many others existed here and I would see my own kind from time to time if not share in their company for a bit prior to leaving upon my own once more. I had been apart of a coven or clan only to break the tenuous ties and leave them behind completely for never did I feel anything more than what one may feel for anything other than that contentment of being around ones own kind. The one exception was a feeling that I might describe as the need to protect a more vulnerable but valuable vampire of whose skills I relied heavily upon but , even then, it was nothing more than what could best be described as a business arrangement or friendship.

For now, I was alone in the world but believed that another of my kind may soon cross my path again. Never was I alone for long despite the ways of most of my species for I saw little merit in only feeding and being little more than animals; for what else would you call one that did nothing but eat and rest upon the day when such a creature could not sleep?

Watching my prey as he went about a corner betwixt two buildings for a reason I knew not, I seized at him and felt my teeth tear into the soft warm flesh of his neck as his dark red blood burst forth filling my mouth with a flavor beyond description and his body heaved in pain. No more than a second past as the thick red liquid coated my burning throat with its divine taste and smell when I heard a woman scream.

My mind had no more time to comprehend the noise nor its source than I found myself engulfed in what felt like the flames of my transformation that I remembered well. I did not understand what had occurred outside of dropping the man I had been drinking from and the knowledge that my body was behind his.

Was this Hell? Had God condemned me to my final punishment this night after half an eon of awaiting such a day? The pain that coursed through my body suggested as such though I did not scream out for I knew screaming would have no affect upon me. This lesson had I learned from my own transformation by the she-devil that did drink from me and turn me into a demon-slave. Little will had I left of my own for the all consuming thirst was all I knew when I came to this life and now, pain and suffering on a physical level –for always were they present upon the emotional level- would be my constant guides. Here would I finally die.

For what felt as if hours did I lay there and allow the burn to destroy me though I did not fully understand why the smells of the streets of New York still filled my nostrils through the exquisite pain. My mind knew it to be minutes but, what confused me far more, was the distinct scent of another of my kind that played with the other odors around. I could just see her feet and saw as she dragged my prey off to finish him, leaving me to burn and I wondered how many others had I seen burning upon bonfires of their own limps that might still have some thought and reason about them. Was this to be my fate and what was my final judgment then?

I could see her toss the body, or him but no man of this day would wear strapped shoes such as hers, and then felt the pain increase, if at all possible, as she moved back and out of my sights. I could hear her and knew her eyes be upon me but none else did I know for all I felt and knew of at that moment was pain. Complete and absolute.

The flames of the sun felt to burn within my body and stay with me in this Hell. Was this truly not Hell for no longer could I feed in such pain and my meal was taken from me, was it not? It was then I heard the vampire of whom I knew not speak only to recognize her voice instantly. "Gabriel, you tried to take my food from me," Jane stated in her child like voice as she forced the pain to course through me. Hearing my name cross her lips is what caused my recognition for I had long ago visited the halls of Volterra only to find them not to my liking. Jane. My current pain was due to her.

I knew the sweet looking child to be the Devil herself, or, rather, born of such and her brother be the other half that countered the pain. Fire and Ice they were for one could make you feel this indescribable pain and the other could make you feel nothing. Both were Hells of the two demons own making and each were from a place and I had long since left and placed far from my memory. I had no wish to upset those of the Volturi family but it would seem that even in my attempts to rid myself of them, still I was found though I was blameless for any wrong. So now, I burn without anyone to stop her.

However, as quickly and abruptly as the pain began did it also so end for the moment I felt it leave me, I got up and turned only to see a sight that took a bit longer to understand. Before me was Jane, her deceiving cherub face now engulfed in flames whilst, slightly behind her was a woman in a pink and black dress and what could only be described as a flame thrower of some sort. The woman was human for I heard her heartbeat but I did not understand how a human could know or why a human would know of us. Perhaps she did not and only served to kill as many other did? No. That I did not believe.

As I saw Jane turn towards the woman, her eyes wild as the flames quickly spread for she had only just feed and the venom no doubt had been pooling in her mouth, my only thought was to protect this woman, no lady, from Jane's flaming form.

I thrust myself at her and pushed her to the side, hoping to put myself between this lady and the vile demoness. Jane seemed beyond her wits and was easy enough to avoid as she ran about screaming. I watched in horrid fascination for, as much as I had wish of the pain to stop, to kill Jane was to die yourself. For, I knew, it would not be long before Aro came to look for his pet.

I could see the human woman near the poorly powered streetlight. Her skirt was slightly messed as she sat upon the ground to where I pushed her. I felt guilty at once and hoped I did not harm this savior of mine though I wondered how she knew and how she had come by a way to cast flames. It was then I saw the can of hairspray and could just make out a lighter still clutched in her right hand. Ah. Given what I knew of flammables, I would guess that this simple can was what I saw cast the flames directly to Jane's face. Having just eaten, she may still have had some venom about her lips. It was her undoing.

I watched as Jane's remain fell silent to the pavement. I had no wish to move from my current place since I did not want Jane to rise again and hurt my savior but also for my own sake, for I did not wish to hurt this lady myself. I had not eaten. I could hear her soft but quick pace of her heart and knew the thick blood that flowed through her veins. I dared not to breathe. I had already smelt the scent of her blood and knew it to be sweet, mouthwatering and delicious. If she was hurt from where I pushed her, then I would kill the one that saved me and I would not add another innocent life to the one I destroyed so many years ago.

I clenched my fists as the thought and heard what I believed to be her cellular phone ringing in her pocketbook. She did not answer it but seemed to watch the scene before her with wide eyes. The more chivalrous side of me wished to ask her if she was alright and help her to her feet but I knew that if there was any blood flow from the slightest of wounds, I would be her Death.

Still her phone ringed and she did not answer it. She but looked towards me and I could see from the peripheral that the lady was truly lovely. Her hair fell upon one side her face but the side I could see was the mark of a near perfect bone structure. Her, dress, though bunched up around her currently for the way I pushed her from Jane's revenge, was something of a time but a half century ago. What I noticed most was that of her perfect emerald eye as it stared upon me and moved from my visage to the flaming remains of Jane Volturi. May peace be upon her and upon us –those that are now responsible for her death.

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Author's note: Review? Please?


	2. Chapter 2

La Luce della Luna

**Disclaimer:** Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stepheine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary:** The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's Note:**Hello Everybody! I'm glad to see so many familiar names already emailing me and reviewing. Please, keep it up. So far, the story isn't too bad but it will earn its M rating pretty soon. Gabriel is a dirty old man and that will become evident in a bit. :-) Silly Gabe…

A big side note, I did start a soundtrack for Gabriel's story. It's upon youtube under my username JubileeL. I think I posted it to my profile here too a long time ago….

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Chapter 2

_My only love sprung from my only hate!  
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!  
Prodigious birth of love it is to me  
That I must love a loathèd enemy._

_-Juliet from Romeo & Juliet_

A cautious breath did I take as to test myself from my estranged distance between the lady and me; her dress was not torn but still she sat in a haphazard fashion in which she had landed when I pushed her. The fires burned in my throat as if I had inhaled the very flames that danced but yards before my eyes, creating a small pillar of purple smoke as Jane's remains were turned to a thin bit of ash. _Memento, homo, quad cinis es et in cenerem reverentis_ Remember man that you are ash and to ashes shall you return. Such is the way with mortals and immortals alike if our kind can have any death and not become but a shade upon this plane or within Hell itself.

I trained my eyes on Jane's burning form as I tried to ignore the burn that flamed my throat for it was but a tickle in comparison to the burn that I had felt encompassing my frozen form just minutes before. As much as I wanted to sedate the burn within my throat with the dark syrup that pushed through the veins of the lady that still sat to my left upon the filth of a sidewalk as if in shock, I could not do so of my savior. I would not. Not only did I know of no crime to which she had committed –for killing one of our kind was not murder but a grand justice for all of mankind- but she had saved me, a soulless creature for reasons I understood not.

My jaw tightened as I fought my nature to not kill this innocent lady and pulled what little inner strength I might have to preserve her life. I watched from the corner of my eye as she began to come out of the shock much to my relief for I knew not what to do if I had injured the one who had saved me; would that not make me more of demon to hurt that which preserved me? I closed my eyes as I became more resolved to not kill what would otherwise be a fine meal to most of my kind. A human with no other heartbeats around for a good block and any screams drowned by the hum of the city…

I heard the ruffle of fabric and knew that she was righting herself for the sound was close and, as I took another hesitant breath, her sweet smell did I draw in. Upon opening my eyes I saw her dusting off her dress to smooth the wrinkles I did create and attempt to rid herself of the filth that came from the street. When her eyes looked upon me, I saw the slight hint of fear – a normal reaction to our kind- cross her visage and thought, for a moment, that I fall next to this lady's justice. Instead she opened her mouth to speak and spirited out but one word, "Sorry!", whilst taking but a stumbling step backwards though she did not run.

Sorry. A simple apology and for what? For how she did save me and take out the most resplendent jewel of the Volturi Guard could possibly be cause for apology, I knew not. Perhaps to Aro but she would not survive a meeting with him assuming that Alec did not find her sweet smelling blood and discover this lady as the culprit in his sister's death. But not to me did she need any apology but to I did owe her for pushing the pretty little human and not seeing if any injury occurred upon her person. No more a gentleman was I. A small sly smile played upon my lips at hearing her apology.

I thought on what I should do and only found myself wishing for information. I could not call this angel my savior and never knowing her name for the rest of my existence. I would need something to call her by other than the savior she was. "_Name?_" I asked more roughly than I wished but I did not wish to waste all my breath upon too many unnecessary words.

I watched from the periphery of my vision as she tilted her head infinitesimally to the side prior to her answer. "_Elizabeth_," her soft soprano voice informed me. Elizabetta, the promise of God. The name fit her and yet, it did not. It was the name of Queens and of many a great woman in history but yet far too common for a true vampire slayer. Perhaps something darker or something more befitting of such a unique creature as this beautiful yet weak human that killed what may have been the most powerful of all the immortals.

My curiosity over came me and I pointed to the still burning flesh of what had been Jane. "_Did you know?_" I asked of her to be sure that she realized what she had done. Who is to say that she did not know that she had destroyed a vampire and that another stood before her? It was not something I truly believed but I did wish to confirm that Elizabetta knew what she had destroyed.

"_Jane?_" she asked me to which my brow did I raise. Yes, she knew. She knew a great deal if she could place a name to the one she had destroyed. Perhaps she had worked within Volterra's walls for I knew that the Volturi took in humans for some of the jobs they were unwilling to do themselves or thought themselves above. Humans as servants, slaves and eventually, cattle. I nodded once to her as I considered where she might be from for only names and but the apology had I heard spoken from her lips –hardly enough to detect any accent from. If she was from Volterra, I would know it in her voice.

Her phone, which had only stopped in its rings for but a moment prior to starting again did play a far more cheerful tune that would be prescribed for this situation. I was curious as to who would call her and know that she had been within danger's grasp. Was this sweet lady to have met someone and become late due to her stopping to kill a vampire? A worried lover or mother?

I saw the flames continued to burn and Jane crumble into ash beneath the orange and yellow glow. My scent was here. Elizabetta's scent was here. A man's body with both my venom and Jane's laid hidden not far from the ashes. It would not take long before any vampire did cross such a scene to discover what had happened or to construe some sort of story from the small amount of evidence. Rain was a far off thing and would not cover the scents prior to the discovery of the ash pile. We were to be the Guard's targets and, I hoped, that they would only assume it was I and not this lady that killed Jane. I deserved my ended fate.

I could see Elizabetta search through her pocketbook to reach for the still ringing phone. I knew I would have to leave and placed my hand atop of hers as she shivered with shock and fear when the events did hit her, or so I believed. She looked at me with wide green eyes peering through her nearly black hair to one side of her face. It was not the look I was use to seeing for she was startled and not fearful. Such an odd creature.

I could think of thanking her in but one way. A simple kiss upon her forehead as I had seen many a man do to a woman so that she may know I shall not harm her. My teeth would be close but not as a weapon would I use them against her. My lips but touched her fragrant skin that I did not breathe in for I had not but two breaths since my seeing of this lady. Using all the breath I had left in my lungs, I spoke my last words to my savior, my Elizabetta; "_Thank you_."

Quickly, I sped away from her too fearful that I might take her life upon hearing her heartbeat close up as if it were a beckoning drum to tell me that before me was an easy and scrumptious meal that I had but to stretch out to taste. As I fled to the near constantly bustling streets of the theater district within the borough of Manhattan, I took another breath in the hopes of clearing my nostrils. Instead, I breathed in the cornucopia of blood from all too many victims that strayed before me. Each ignoring me and edging ever slightly away from my form as they past by the darken street on which I stood. It would be a simple thing to pick any of them out for my next meal.

But no. I shall not turn into such a creature again. I will not destroy the lives of those that have not hurt the lives of others. Murders, rapists, the most vile of all that would dare to call themselves human; I was nothing more than a demon that hunted his fellow demons, a cannibal in its truest sense for I drank their life's blood from their veins to fill my cold, frozen heart with that which it so sourly missed.

I would not hurt those that past by me with scarcely a notice to my direction. Above all, if I did not become a hunter of hunters, the sweet smelling blood of the lady… My heart began to feel pained at such a thought for I was a hunter of hunters, just not of the vampire kind. Her I would not touch in such a way to cause harm for to harm her was to what truly was a wonderful oxymoron for she was but a weak human that had slain the most powerful of vampires; something that should not have occurred though I did see it with my own eyes.

No, not her would I satisfy my ever growing hunger with. It had been two weeks since I last hunted but it had been but a few minutes prior that I thought to satisfy my thirst. The beast inside me roared at his lost meal and demanded a quick restitution of it. Had not my first meal a companion that was just as vile as he? Had I not let him get away as I chased the more sweet scent of the foul creatures? To him, would I find and take his life this night sparing the many before me and helping to protect such humans as the lady Elizabetta.

His scent was easy enough to find since he too did not cross the many throngs of people but stayed to the less populated areas as he returned to his home or towards his next victim. It was always far too difficult to tell of which these monsters did lead me too though it mattered not. Some were as I am in the sense that no permanent home could or would hold them to any sense of permanency. The only thing permanent in regards to me was my ever unchanging form; unable to age and unable to grow in any real sense for we were all frozen as we were, as who we were, when we become a vampire.

None of us did choose our fate but many did seem to embrace it for what else could one do with such a hand that we were all dealt with? I choose what I believed the best of fates, a monster who kills other monsters though I knew of many that were not so discriminatory and even a few who refused to kill at all but what point was there in going completely against our nature? Even humans do not do so and eat what they are told to eat but have created rules for themselves on what is considered food and what is not. How many now do eat only cage free eggs or organic fruits to prove what good they do? No, going without the humans' blood was not an option for it went against our very natures but I would not kill an innocent either.

Many are the ones that I have killed for I have fed every two weeks for nearly five hundred years. Thousands upon thousands have been my victims; some with names and some not but all with faces. Each face was one I remembered; some where more painful to remember than others for there was a time when I hunted for both pleasure and feast.

Not allowing myself to think upon the years when I preyed upon the husband killers to satisfy my carnal needs as well as my thirst, I realized I had lost the trail to my intended victim. He must have taken a taxi for his scent was strongest but a few steps back near the curbside and there was nothing more in the direction I had been heading of him. I considered my options and knew only of what I had overheard the two vile men state earlier as well as that wallet may still be with the unburned body of the other creature.

I could not go back. Too desirous was my need for blood and although I did doubt that the lady, Elizabetta, still lingered there, I wished not to risk it. Still, there was the far more greater danger that the Volturi Guard had found the body and the accompany pile of ash; to walk into such a devil's den was also not my wish for I would not become a pile of ash myself. Instead, I placed together what I knew of the men, of where there victims had lived, and believed that East New York would harbor my prey. If not, then some other that I might be able to track and feast upon.

The night allowed me to stay in plain sight as I walked down the quickly deserting streets as the hours divulged further into the morning. Long since had many humans gone to bed and it would not be long now before many would awaken. To sleep was a luxury no vampire did have for we never physically tired but to never be able to mentally rest as well was yet another curse upon our form.

Quickly, I found my way across the bridge and to the borough of Brooklyn and over to the East New York where crime was no stranger to its residents. Though my journey to this part of town was quick, finding my intended prey was not for each street did I try to find some of his scent only to find many others. Unknowing if any other was as vile, I could not drink from them. By the dawn's light, did I think that it may be worth my while to simply find a stray drug dealer or junkie to drink from though their blood would be tainted, it would satisfy my thirst well.

As soon as my thoughts began to think upon another meal, did I catch the strange scent that made up the creature I had been attempting to find. Though it did take a century, I had discovered that each human held a unique scent, some more so than others. Those of a family would, indeed, smell very similar, sometimes almost indistinguishable, but each person held their own unique signature scent. I believed it to be based upon not only genetics –as we know now through the marvels of modern science- but also based upon what each human ate. Long ago did I notice a difference between those that eat but vegetables and those that eat meat but also a difference between those that had a diet largely of fish or seafood. The most comment meal now seemed to be of the New World's potato fried deeply in a vegetable or peanut oil along with fried bits of chicken or a patty of ground meat to the point it smelt nearly carbonized to my nose. I could not see how that would possibly ever be anything other than a waxy greasy substance and rather disastrous to one's health. At the very least, I remembered eating fish as a human.

The creature who I believed to be upon the second floor of the building I now stood before as dawn broke upon the city, was a carnivore. I believed his diet to be of beef more than chicken based upon his smell but it was of no matter, either way, he would make a fine meal and be one less predator for the innocents to have any worry over.

As few were out and no seeing eyes lay upon me- if they did, they were of those that should be committed to a mental asylum or to a hospital and of little matter to me- I jumped to the second floor window with Hermes' feet and pried the window open despite it's protest against such movement. The man inside heard it and took a great intake of breath upon seeing my entrance. I smiled at the shocked look upon my meal's face for I was the last creature he would ever see.

Before he had a chance to scream or shout at me for such was the reaction of all humans upon knowing that this was their last moments –I believed it to be called the "fight or flight" response currently- I grabbed his throat with my right hand and looked into his eyes. I held him up above me as I peered into them, a smile playing upon my lips as his hands grasped my own and attempted to pry my hand away from his neck. He could still breathe but no words would be heard from him ever again.

"_For your sins,_" I told him as I flipped the creature around and exposed his neck greedily. His fingernails bleed as he still tried in vain to escape me, his feet thrashing against the floor as my teeth sunk into the pulse at his neck.

Hungrily I drank the human blood he offered, the thick red liquid coating my throat and easing the burn that had persisted through a great deal of the night. As the rays of the sun filtered through the window, I felt renewed by the blood I hungrily stole from this man to coat my ancient heart with that which I no longer had. His struggling slowed and his bloodied hands no longer starched at my cold hard arms that held him in a vice grip as I drank. The sound of him attempting to breathe despite the blood that bubbled into his throat also faded.

Reason again began to enter my head as thoughts of my stomach no longer dominated my mind; I would have need to burn this body. The other, I did hold hope, was burned by the Guard. If not, then that it would not be found for a day or two so that the rats and other creatures would have looked to have gotten to it long before a medical examiner could be found. Such animals would hide the bite marks and none would look closely at a man found dead upon but a few months out of jail for being a child molester as they did call them now. Within my day, a father would have had the right to kill a man who was suspected of stealing his daughter's virginity without her permission. Even if the class levels were different, a duel could be arranged and people did die for mysterious reasons all of the time; Death was an ever present companion then.

I saw a window that led to the shaded and still dark alleyway. It was early enough upon the morn that none would notice a man dragging a body from the second story into the alleyway below; not that, within this neighborhood, did I believe such an action would readily receive a second glance. I pulled my now finished and quite drained meal to my shoulder and leapt outside the side window with him. As I reached to toss him to the ground and alight his remains, I smelled one of my own kind.

Immediately, I looked up and saw the dark glare from the slightly smaller vampire before me. "What did you do?" the member of the Guard, based upon his dark cloak, demanded of me in my native Italian. I knew not what to do or how to think for I knew not how much the Guard had pieced together. If they thought that I had killed her, then all the better for the sweet little treasure of a lady, Elizabetta; but, if they suspected her or her involvement…

"Jane took my meal from me," I stated plainly back to him in Italian, a language that I had not spoken in nearly a decade though my thoughts still were in my native tongue. I wished for him to give me information and not for me to give it to him for I would not indite myself nor the human woman that saved me. I did not let go of the body as I saw the Guardsman advance slightly towards me, his hands in fists at his sides. That he did not readily attack as a sign he wished for information as well, or so did I hope.

"And so your human pet distracted her while you destroyed her?" he did nearly shout at me as Demetri came but a bit closer. I took a step back, careful of my surroundings.

"Human pet?" I asked, genuinely confused for I did not keep a human as the Volturi did.

"The woman we all smelled at the scene. Where ever you have hidden her, we will find her as well," he sneered.

Anger boiled in me immediately at the idea of the Volturi Guard destroying my savoir or harming her in anyway. My only thought was that they could not have her and I needed to safe the precious treasure from them though I knew not where she was. Seeing as Demetri meant to destroy me, I, in anger and haste, ripped the arm off the corpse I carried and threw it at him. What little blood was left in the corpse, splattered upon the ground, the walls, and upon Demetri's face.

I had no time to see any further reaction that the dilation of the black pupils inside the nearly black eyes of his. I threw the corpse down as well and ran towards the river, mindful to keep to the shadows. I had a what was communally called a steal horse in a garage within Manhattan for times when I wished to leave the city but I was unsure of Elizabetta even lived outside the city or within it. I had no choice but to return to the scene of Jane's death and hope that the Guard were behind me rather than in front of me. I needed to find this little treasure and protect her from Death.

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**Author's Note:** A bit gruesome but not too bad yet. Gabriel's mind is a lot different from Elizabeth's! Next chapter, the kidnapping! Woohoo!


	3. Chapter 3

La Luce della Luna

**Disclaimer:** Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stepheine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary:** The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's Note:** Sorry this one is late! I actually got very sick (like ended up in the ER sick) but I'm much better now. I think I'll go for a walk….. Oh wait, wrong fandom. :-) So Gabriel is a bit bad in this chapter and you'll hopefully see why I rated this story M. Gabriel his not a good boy. …and he knows it. Oh, and this chapter is LONG.

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Chapter 3

_Adam lay ybounden,  
Bounden in a bond;  
Four thousand winter,  
Thought he not too long._

_And all was for an apple,  
An apple that he took.  
As clerkes finden,  
Written in their book._

_-15__th__ Century English ballad_

The alley lay silent before me with the sweet stinging scent of burnt flesh –both human and vampire- still hanging in the slight breeze. The Guard was behind me and not in front of me as I did hope for I needed to find this Elizabetta before them and warn her, perhaps protect her. As she saved me from Jane, so mayhaps I might save her from Demetri, Felix, and Alec though I knew not how with the latter of these three for he was just as powerful as his sister. Elizabetta had destroyed Fire but how does one stop the slow encroaching yet powerful Ice as it surrounds you and destroys your senses?

Shaking such thoughts from my head, for, first there was to find my savior and then warn her. All else, I did so hope, would fall into place as we both did run from our unfortunate circumstances. I would take my savoir and save her though that thought did strike me as odd for I was a vampire and she was a human girl, no, lady. But since when did humans know of our kind and be able to destroy us with such simple weapons as a flammable aerosol and a lighter? She may be human but normal this Elizabetta was not so, and, in that, did she need protection by someone that could help her weak human form.

I could tell that she had left her spot upon the sidewalk where had been standing last I saw of her in that perfect fitted pink and black dress of another time to head towards the parking garage but a few yards away. Perhaps that was where she had been heading all along when our paths did transverse and she stumbled upon Jane as well as myself. I could not go towards the building due to the sunlight as it cascaded down from overhead. It was cool enough today that a pair of leather driving gloves did not look at odds with the temperature. I would need a hat to more fully cover myself and not be caught in the light of the sun for it was by that light that we are shown for what we truly are.

Knowing this and knowing the way in which Elizabetta took, I thought to retrace her steps back might give me more information than to trace her steps forward; for what could an empty parking space tell me? That my savior had left the streets of New York to attend to her home or elsewhere? This I knew but I needed a last name or an idea of where her current location might be and I would need it before the Guard again found me; for if they have found me, they can easily find her.

Careful of the sun's rays, I stayed to my shadow world and looked out to the morning shuffle as the world around me did awaken from their nights slumber. Thought this may be the city that never sleeps, it did dim in activity between the evening hours until morning's light. Then, again, would the humans go to and for to their various places of work and other activities. Each attempting to make their own way, have their own dreams of fame and fortune so that they may live forever in name only through the generations. Very few even guessed at the possibility of a life that never entered the grave but stood forever frozen above it, around it, never changing in a constantly changing world.

To this city did I exile myself and to her streets did I tread. It was here that I thought last night that I had died only to be given a second chance at the hands of the young human lady, of whom I know search. The numerous overhangs and scaffolding along the streets helped to shadow my face but it was at the intersections that I had need of some cover. How odd would it look to hold a newspaper so that the sun would not touch my skin? Did it matter in this city that eccentricity was the norm? I would come across as yet another homeless beggar that thought the light of the sun to be of some evil form or be unworthy of the sun's rays. Perhaps I could go with something far simpler, a skin condition that did not allow for prolonged sun exposure should any ask of why I did hold a paper as if a parasol. Though none would ask in this God forgotten city of sin and leisure, for little had been shown to me to suggest that God has any want of this place anymore. Perhaps, though, it is only because God has no want of me.

Finding an automated newsstand, I placed but a quarter from my pocket within the metal contraption that replaced the newsboy so long ago and pulled out the familiar paper. I cared not of which one I had, only that it was large enough to cover my face for the rest of me was easy to cover and remain inconspicuous amongst the crowds. To wear a ski mask or something akin to that would cause too much of a panic and a hat was too hard to find quickly lest it be atop someone else's head. As long as humans could see your face, their fear of our kind remained largely dull, mild. They only knew to stay away, not that we were the stuff of nightmares.

My gloved hand held the newspaper as a barrier between the exposed skin of my face and the ever bright and –today- present sun. Some did look upon me oddly as I crossed from one shadowed area to the other but no speck of light made me out to be something other than the human I was attempting to portray though any humanness had long since vanished even before I was turned. Still following the sweet smell of Elizabetta –it was of some sort of citrus and a floral scent- I stayed as much as I could to the shadows and used the newspaper as an effective shield against the sun.

It was to a darkened door of a club that her scent did fade into which I found peculiar. She had been dressed in a frock like that of what was worn in the 1950's, not the nearly scandalous too short and too tight outfits I was use to seeing on the young women who today were little more than prostitutes. I had seen them wait in many lines of various clubs that littered the nighttime streets of the city. These young women were of the belief that by using their bodies they were empowering themselves, excelling their own greed through a man's lust. They knew not of their sins until it was too late, if they ever realized the blame for their terrible situations laid with them at all. To where did their parents allow their daughters to grow up in such a fashion as that to be nothing more than a man's mistress or courtesans was of more esteem in their views than to be a wife and mother? Of course, upon looking back at my own wife, mayhap some men are better off with these interchangeable mistresses. One did not fear that they were not all they could be as a man and could cast out the whore if she dared to even look lustfully at another man.

But this Elizabetta? With her full skirt that had come down to her knees, though it inched above it and exposed part of her thigh as she had sat their in a crooked style upon the sidewalk… her silver hosen gave off the slightest luminescence in the dim light, hinting only of the treasures that lay beneath her gown. I shook my mental thoughts for I should not think of my savior in the same terms as any common woman I might have come across. Elizabetta was a lady, one that saved me and destroyed my enemy at the time. She was a weak human that killed a vampire and was currently upon the Volturi Guard's list of humans to be slain. I had need to find her and save her as she saved me.

Allowing the lustful thoughts to leave my head, I attempted to enter the establishment before me only to find a human upon the other side of the door. He was a svelte but tall individual, probably in his early twenties and looked to be carrying a great deal of garbage. His shocked look upon seeing me standing before him was one I had seen many times before. I gave him a moment in which to allow him to recover himself for I had no wish to drink from him. This man may be able to give me the information I so desperately needed. "_I'm sorry sir, the club is closed_," he did nearly stutter after a few seconds. I gave a pleasant smile in return, hoping to put some ease into this man prior to extracting what information I could and hopefully gain entrance so I could discover more in regards to my Elizabetta.

"_I understand,_" I said on to him in English. "_But I'm hoping to find out some information regarding a lady that was here last night?_" I began. The boy began to put down the trash bags that he did hold in his hand and look upon me nervously.

"_I'm sorry, sir, but we can't give out any information. Maybe if you come back tonight,_" he began to which I quickly cut him off. No! Tonight she could be dead if the Guard finds her before me and that was not something I wished for at all. Anger must have shown upon my face for the man took a step back away from me and looked a bit frightened.

"_There was an incident not far from here and I believe her to be a witness,_" I stated quickly. I did not have any badges or anything that I could pretend to use that would mark me as a police man but I did hope that I could lie my way in if necessary. Not that what I stated was anything other than the truth.

The boy visibly relaxed and seemed to understand my words. "_Well, I wasn't working last night but Eric was. He's inside and he might be able to help,_" he said, not even questioning regarding the incident or anything more. Such a strange city and a strange time we did live in!

"_Thank you,_" I said politely as I breezed past the man while he continued to go about his work. I had to stop breathing in order not to breathe in the smells of the half rotten food and other trash from the night before.

Inside was not as I expected. The club clearly had a 1940's theme which would explain Elizabetta's dress well. The thousands of smells inside mingled together to tell me of the various humans that had gathered here not but hours earlier. The condensed state of the smells made it harder in some ways and yet easier in others to pick out Elizabetta's and follow it to the dance floor area. I could not help but to wonder if she did indeed like to dance. I could only imagine her in the pretty pink and black frock upon the dance floor as the music played, her body swaying to the sounds, but being held in someone else's arms. But none were with her last night so did she leave him here or was she daring enough to come by herself? The later seemed more likely for only a daring woman would kill a vampire.

Thinking on Elizabetta and her body in that pink and black dress; she was built almost as if a woman from my time, perfect in her frame. She was not the thin shapeless frame that was considered popular now nor was she large by any means; but a lovely proportionally look in which I believe her to be what would be considered a modern size eight. Perhaps a size six for it was not to her size that I looked at her but her lovely half hidden face and her rounded sturdy but shapely legs that…. She was my savior I reminded myself again.

Yet an even younger man greeted me upon my entrance to the club; for I was not but six feet inside when he emerged from a pair of doors that I assumed lead to a kitchen when he spotted me and immediately came to face me. It was only out of instinct, I believe, that he stayed a mere three feet from me for his face was grave as if he did own this establishment and I, the trespasser, were some ruthless vandal. I smiled slightly at that thought for, perhaps, I am. "_I'm sorry, sir, but we're closed_," he said coolly making no disguise in his voice of his displeasure upon seeing an unknown person at this hour.

"_I understand_," I stated yet again as this scene replayed out with only the younger male now cast differently. Perhaps this was Eric? "_I'm hoping to find some information regarding a witness to an accident down the street_," I explained, hoping that such a statement sounded innocent enough. I could play this off as a car accident with myself as a victim. I had seen enough of the human world to know that a car accident was a common occurrence and that to gather names of witnesses was to common. This should come as no great intrusion and may invoke the helpful side I've seen in some of God's creatures.

"_An accident?_" he asked, his curiosity coloring his tone now though he remained apprehensive. I attempted to look a bit more humble and as if I had a rough night. The latter part of that was not difficult for, indeed, had I quite a rough night given the near death experience, the death of Jane, and meeting the strange human lady that I hoped now to track down.

I lowered my head and brushed my hair back to behind my shoulders with my hand as I had seen many do upon questioning. This degree of submissiveness under the inquisitors gaze seemed to lower their apprehensiveness of me when I have done so in the past. It worked this time as well as I watched from the side of my eye this young man's shoulders drop slightly. I doubt he even knew his change in posture.

"_Yes,"_ I stated with a nervous smile for I wished to continue to earn his trust in order to extract information. "_She wrote down her name and address for me but I lost it_," I continued in my lie. Lying of this sort was but a small sin, yet another one of many sins to add to my near infinite total. Perhaps in saving Elizabetta from the Guard, in protecting her, I might again have a chance to redeem myself? I doubt it greatly for one day would not wash away the nearly half a eon of sins I had accumulated and God does not forgive my kind.

The young man smiled a bit upon hearing my explanation. "_Well, I don't know how much help I can be but I was working last night,"_ he informed me before reaching for my hand in the customary shake. I took it without fear for I still wore my driving gloves so no notice would he make of my cold hard skin.

"_Eric,"_ he introduced himself upon my quick but gentle grasp of his hand.

"_Gabriel,_" I stated in reply prior to continuing to ask him in regards to Elizabetta. "_Hopefully you will remember her,"_ I said, gaining a readied look from Eric as he stood before me, preparing to remember the beautiful Elizabetta, for she was indeed a treasure. In my time, she would have been praised for her perfect proportions, particularly in her face.

"_She was wearing a 1950's number, pink and black, and stated that her name was Elizabeth_," I spoke unto him hoping to not sound too off. If I did, I would claim I was an immigrant as I had many times before. Though it was the truth, my immigration to this land was well over a century ago and never have I left the Northern part of the Americas since.

Eric tilted his head up and to the right as he tried to recall such a beautiful creature though I did give little in description. Humans cannot recall as grand detail as a vampire can and to say that she smelled of citrus and looked like a mythological goddess, perhaps the great Diana who was both the goddess of the moon and of hunt for she did hunt a vampire by the light of the moon. I smiled onto myself at the thought of Elizabetta as the great Roman goddess.

"_Long dark hair, southern gal?_" he asked suddenly as he thought. I looked up, mildly surprised that he had seen her but also overjoyed that he had as well. Or at least, I hoped that he recalled the same beauty as I.

"_I believe so,_" I began. As his words did allow themselves to further be embedded into my consciousness I realized the term _southern gal_ may mean she was but another tourist here and live far from my adopted home. It may take longer than I anticipated to find her again. I only hoped that it would take the Guard even longer and that Demetri did not have the ability to track he having not met her or seen her. "_She said she had been here prior to the accident_," I began in my hopes to gain further clarification. "_I do not believe she was with anyone_."

Eric grinned upon hearing me. "_She wasn't. Poor lady,_" he said which caused me to furrow my brow prior to him continuing for what could he mean by _poor lady_? "_I ended up seating her with some of our regulars to the club after some jerk wouldn't leave her alone. She was kind of cool about the whole thing though. I think she said she was just here on a visit from Ithaca,_" he stated as he continued to think upon details.

Ithaca. Ithaca was not terribly far if he did in fact mean Ithaca, New York. To this could I drive tonight upon retrieving my motorcycle once the sun had made it's descent below the horizon. I could find her prior to the Guard, or so did I hope. "_Ithaca, New York?_" I asked in clarification.

Eric nodded. "_Yeah, I heard her talking to Mrs. Bray and saying how she was staying near the college at some family friends' house or something like that_," he continued as he thought. This was enough information. Ithaca was a large place but it was easier to find her there than to continue to extract information here for much longer.

"_Thank you_," I stated as I turned to leave. I heard Eric say something akin to goodbye prior to my departure through the front of the establishment. I again used the newspaper as a shield as I left to transverse the streets of the city. Odd as I may look, it was nothing compared to the sun's affects upon my skin and would draw little notice other than the stray comment regarding my sanity or if I suffered from some sort of affliction.

Towards where I kept my motorcycle did I go as quickly as was humanly possible for although some attention was unavoidable, too much would only cause more trouble. Though I already did have the guard after me, to expose ourselves in the slightest would only cause problems for others of my kind. To have the Guard upon me was one thing; to have all of my race was quite another.

Again I wondered how Elizabetta came to know of us for someone had to have told her. She knew Jane's name and, no doubt, what she was but I did not understand how or how much she did know. By the simple fact that none of the Guard seemed to recognize her scent did I believe she could not have worked for them. They knew her not and that was currently a blessing for her though it would not take long for any of the Guard to discover for I had uncovered but a simple clue to her whereabouts. How much would the Volturi Guardsmen discover? I did not wish to think of how they may torture those that were within the restaurant that night so as to find her. Assuming that did travel back I did and the day did not wear upon her scent so as to disguise it and make it all the harder to find. Of course, Demetri had seen me and could follow me…

It was of little matter. I could protect Elizabetta from Demetri far better than if we were separated. For even if the Guard did destroy me, they would still go after her and they had all the time in the world to find that little treasure. She needed forewarning if nothing else for she needed to know of that which was to come for her.

I do not think the Guard would come after me in the daylight such as this. They may believe, even, that I shall lead them to this human woman and they may wish to destroy us both together. However, better is the chance together knowing what is to come than separated and unknowing for Elizabetta.

To the garage where I kept my steel horse did I go and kept to the shadows as much as I was able. Grateful was I for the coolness of the weather so that my long leather trench coat and leather gloves were inconspicuous given the temperatures. All were wearing various jackets and coats, some with gloves and scarves and others without. It would not get above the mid fifties today and I was sure it would be cooler even further into the state.

Upon getting to the garage, I awaited the sun's setting so that I could go upon my journey and find my elusive savior. I should not have let her go.

The very thought that I had done so pained me for I only created further problems for us both. But would I have been able to stay around the sweet smelling human woman with the fresh plump lips and soft beating heart when the thirst was as bad as it was? Given her scent, could I even be around her now that I am fed? I was determined to do so for I could not see how to find a way out of this situation but only knew that I needed to find her first. I would suffer the burning for her for she is the one that saved me from a burn that was many times worse.

My frustration grew as the sun seemed to take its time crossing the sky and every little sound from a rat's feet to the squeal of a car made me all the more nervous. If I had found a way to be out in the daylight, so could the Guard. I needed to find Elizabetta before they found me.

Once the last of the suns rays fell behind the buildings, I straddled the small steel horse and got upon the roads as quickly as I could. Here, I had no need to hold to the human limits for it was only the limits of the motorcycle itself that were to be obeyed. To see someone riding such a machine at fast speeds was nothing to humans other than perhaps a minor bit of annoyance. They could have no comprehension that a vampire's reflexes were such that it was not the machine they need fear but the teeth of the creature riding it.

As I road along the various roads and highways, I found my thoughts focused upon the little treasure of a woman, Elizabetta. I could not understand for why other than she had saved me from Hell in what was most likely a literal sense for there was little doubt that Jane would think nothing of tearing me apart while she used her gifts upon me. I would be incapacitated by the imaginary flames her ability extolled upon all that crossed her path and would have no way to fight against the smaller, physically weaker, vampire.

Even then, it did not seem to explain my thoughts fully for I could not rid myself of her image at all. It was as if her perfect green eyes and alabaster skin did cloud my vision and her dark hair became the night sky. She would look like a queen if she would wear gems like stars in her long dark locks though the night sky was too colorless, too undefined to truly show the beauty of Elizabetta's long hair. It was almost as if it had some copper or bronze in it mixed along the blacks and dark browns. It did not look artificial but natural; a hair color many women would envy if those upon the streets of New York were any indication. I had seen many women with perfect copper stripes –they refer to them as _highlights_- made through their dark brunette hair. It was but an imitation of this lady's beauty.

In many ways, it felt wrong for such a lady to save me. Although, I knew not if she was truly as innocent as I was making her to be. Perhaps it was through sin she learned of our kind –she could be some gangster's moll for all what little I did know- but it seemed unlikely for many reasons. She would not have been unescorted if that were the case and it still would not explain how she knew of our kind.

Again I played the scene in my head; A flash of light that ended the nearly unimaginable pain followed by seeing Jane in flames and a human behind her. I pushed the human lady out of the way, fearful that Jane was to take her down as well for fire did destroy humans as it did vampires. That is how I knew she could not be of sin if she had much at all; for Elizabetta saved me. She saw someone in distress and destroyed the attacker Jane. I knew not whether she realized what she was doing or not but that her instincts were to save rather than to scream or run away indicated a good heart lay within her breast. A luscious heart beneath her large bosom that was hidden beneath the fabric of that dress and most likely in a brassier as they wore now.

She had sat, almost leaned backwards upon the sidewalk as she gazed up at me and I fought for control for I had no wish to hurt her. Hurt her, no, but other feelings were developing inside of me and I knew it. I lusted to see the grove that was hidden beneath that skirt and at the apex of her silver hosen covered thighs. I tried to remind myself that she was human and that it was nothing for me to lust after yet another woman. Of course, this one I could not have because she was human. All the human women I had taken to my bed I drank from greedily as I was brought to a climax by their warm centers for that was all that was warm about them. Like the female spiders those women were named after, they planned to kill any lover they took and had killed many.

It had taken me only a few short years to discover that was not the way I wished to lead my existence; to combine the bloodlust with the sexual lust I felt –it only made me far worse of a creature than I already was. I became a sadistic bastard, no better than the women I killed for had not their previous husbands married them out of lust and greed for their bodies? I killed them because they killed but used their bodies for my own pleasure as well. A true incubus.

I resorted to killing only the most diseased of the human race that I could find and to that did I stay for what other way was there for a vampire? Oh, I knew of the so called vegetarians who denied their very nature well for I had become a lover to one of those kind for a few years prior to moving on. It was these thoughts that allowed me to come to but one conclusion: I was no good for Elizabetta.

That thought pained me above all else and I knew not why. I was nothing more than a killer of killer's, a creature of the undead. I could not stop killing because that was what vampires did; drink from the kind of which they came. But the vegetarians did not. I would not try their way though for I could not deny what I am and found our very skin to be a mark of the sins I had committed, numerous as they were. What point was there in suffering if we were already damned?

But then again, what point was there then in saving Elizabetta if there was no point in suffering? It was only that my soul was lost upon that day when I killed a man of God in anger; her soul was still well and good in her human flesh and I would preserve that even if it made no difference unto myself. I did not know why and did not care to think upon. What I did know what I had to find her.

Upon my entrance into Ithaca proper three hours later and at only ten thirty at night, I saw no trace of her. Her scent was no where I could find around Cornell though the man had said she lived near the college. I looked at the few college students that were out upon this cold night and did not see her face among them. There was nothing of her here.

Had the man been wrong? Was I? What if the Guard already found her? The pain that shot through me at the idea that she was gone from this world surprised me. I did not wish her dead at all but was it only because she was my savior that I wished to save her? I knew not. My mind was well set though and Elizabetta had I need to find.

For hours did I slowly roam the streets further and further north until I came to a realization at dawn's near breaking. He had said college! Cornell was not the only higher education establishment within Ithaca though it was the one most thought upon. Ithaca College did exist too to the south of the city and I had not checked near it.

Before the light of day had a chance to break far above the horizon, I raced to the southern end of the city. As the light grew in the spring sky, I caught her scent…and the smell of one of my kind. It was south of the college and near the Buttermilk Falls park that I rode. The closer I got the more relief washed over me for it was not the Guard that I smelled with her but also fear crept into me for if not the Guard, then who.

I saw a blue truck and could smell more of my kind but the scents were almost all old. There were many that had been here but I knew not why. What was it about Elizabetta that drew my kind to her? I held on to the hope that she was still alive and I had not failed her.

Carefully, did I stop my motorcycle past the house near the falls so if my kind did exist in those walls, they would not grow suspicious or curious of whom had come to call. Quietly, I ran back to the house as fast as I could without making any noise. I held my breath and relied on my sense of hearing to discover what was occurring within the walls this morn.

As I stood there, listening to the house, I could hear a woman's voice but it was not of my Elizabetta's. Little else was there I could discern for I did not wish to get too close and have the vampire inside hear me but how badly I wished to hear that luscious heart! Instead, I listened for clues in the woman's voice.

"_Yes, a reservation for two please,_" she spoke plainly on to what I believed to be the phone for the other voice was garbled and difficult to hear at all from outside of the home and in the woods that surrounded it. The light could not get me here either.

"_Oh, and do you take pets?_" she asked. My brow furrowed a bit for I could not understand why a vampire would keep a… A flash of but twenty four hours ago rang through my mind. Pet. A human pet. Was that what Elizabetta was to this vampire? Or to the many vampires that had come and gone from this place? It would explain much. Still, it did not explain her question for animals were skittish at best around our kind and it would see ridiculous to keep one. However, perhaps Elizabetta had one? If so, then the question would mean she was still alive. My long dead heart felt alive for but a brief moment due to that.

I waited for what seemed forever but was no more than a few minutes when I started to hear another noise within the confides of the home. I could hear someone upstairs and they were not being quiet about their presence. I held hope it was my human treasure and that hope grew with every hop down the stairs that this person made. Such an innocent carefree gesture that it was no wonder she must amuse these vampires!

No voices did I hear but the soft "mm hmms" of the female vampire as she seemed to still be on the phone. I could hear the sounds of the footsteps of the one that had been upstairs getting closer to the front door and I again felt hope that this was Elizabetta –that the Guard had not gotten to her yet. But the loud person did not open the door. Rather, I heard the vampire woman speak again. "_Be careful, dear. I should have everything booked when you get back_," she stated and again I waited for the door to open only to hear a rush of footsteps ascend the stairs again rather than leave through the front door. Despite their somewhat slow pace, I began to rethink my theory on whether this loud creature was indeed my Elizabetta for what reason would she have to go upstairs if she were to leave?

Again, I heard the sounds of the footsteps come down the stairwell in a hurried pace and lead towards to door which again renewed my hope that this was my human savior. My hopes were realized when there she stood, holding a mismatch of keys and her wallet as she came through the door. Elizabetta was alive and now she would be safe.

No longer did she wear her pink and black dress up jeans, a zip up sweatshirt, and a t-shirt with various designs of fairies and flowers upon both of her tops. Her long dark hair was pulled back into braid much the way a woman of my time would have done only missing her veil. How lovely would the flush of her cheeks look with a bit of sheer silk to frame her perfect face!

I watched as she rattled a rather interesting bunch of keys and keychains –as well as a long bit of trim, perhaps to find the large mess she held in her soft creamy looking hands. She opened the back door to the blue truck first and I noticed from my spot in the woods that there was only enough room for perhaps one individual –a very small individual- as the entire truck seemed to be filled with various suitcases and nicknacks. Did Elizabetta already know? Was she planning on leaving with the vampire that was here? There was no way to know but to ask and I did not wish for anyone to interrupt my plans.

As I watched the long dark haired beauty get in the driver's side of the vehicle, I quickly approached the passenger side. It felt wrong for I, as a man, should drive but there was little time to explain that and I needed to get Elizabetta far from any other vampires before I explained and far from any other vampires is where she would be safe.

The precious green eyes looked at me curiously as I got in when she had already started the truck. She stopped breathing upon seeing my visage and I knew I had startled her but what choice did I have? To startle her now was nothing for I needed to warn her of what was coming. "Drive," I stated to her as I closed the door to what was her truck for her smell permeated it as well as the smell of a…dog?

She looked torn for a minute, as if questioning whether it was best to listen to me or to do something about me but she did listen to my command. "Drive!" I said quickly as I heard the door to the front of the house open. Quickly, she placed her foot upon the accelerator forcing the truck to move. As we left the house behind I could feel the other vampire's eyes upon the vehicle and again I felt myself hoping for something; that this woman would not pursue us. I would protect her precious pet for she had been my savior and now I would repay the debt and protect Elizabetta from the Volturi Guard. I swore this would be done.

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**Author's Note:** So a bit longer and hopefully you can start to see why this is rated M. Gabriel is…well…a dirty old man. He's actually being sort of good right now. He gets a lot worse later. Like it? Hate it? Tell me please!


	4. Chapter 4

La Luce della Luna

**Disclaimer:** Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stepheine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary:** The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's Note:** Gabriel behaved in this chapter to a point. I was rather impressed! Sorry this took a bit. I wanted to get it out earlier but I'm in the "Oh my goodness! I need to sew!" stage right now before Pennsic. Eeck!

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Chapter 4

_Hidden from me now, then the sky's kind lights  
glimmered, strewn through mists which held no shadow:  
those who cross thresholds easily can't see  
our end isn't present in what once was._

_Suddenly, I had many enemies-  
the stars and fate unveiled a malicious  
derisory face and the storm began-_

_In the sky winds, rains, flashing knives gathered:  
inside, tearing, devouring monsters,  
still I hold on, my sight fixed above the hills._

_-Vittoria Colonna (1490-1547)_

Her eyes fixed upon the rear view mirror as we left the place to which she was staying with the female vampire, I turned to see those other eyes I could feel upon my form. The woman that was upon the porch, her golden brown hair falling in soft waves about her shoulders, looked on me in horror. I had expected anger as I was stealing her pet, not this expression to greet me. However, what truly forced my face to twist in frustration was not the look upon this vampire's face, but her entire demeanor. This was no nomad that Elizabetta had stumbled upon and I began to wonder if this was some sort of vampire boarding house or other type of establishment. Perhaps even a permanent residence…

I saw the direction in which Elizabetta was taking and realized that we were to soon come upon a turn to the road I wished for. Not but a few miles down this road was there yet another state park that I had seen signs for upon my drive up from the city of New York and it would be as good a place as any in which to discuss the situation we now were in. She was alive, that was all that matter to me in the moment for such things as plans and how to resolve this situation could be placed from my mind for the time being.

"_Turn here,_" I told her as we came upon the main road.

Her hands did not shift other than to clutch the wheel a bit more tightly and I noticed as her jaw became set. Anger filled her every movement to even the most obtuse of eyes. "_No,_" she said in short to me which filled me with surprise. Was she not like all other humans, afraid of vampires based purely on instinct and, in her case, reason? For to know that you were next to a predator that could kill you at any moment normally did not elicit a behavior that was contrary to the want of the predator; yet here did my Elizabetta cross the main throughfare without the turn I had instructed.

"_No?_" I questioned her for many questions did I have for her. Such as how could a human be so nonchalant in regards to having a vampire with her in the car or how did she know so much –for indeed she knew Jane's name- of vampires?

I watched carefully as the muscles of her jaw flexed and she swallowed a bit, I assumed to keep her anger in check as well as it might. Rather than flush, her face seemed to pale a bit making her look almost as one of my kind rather than human. It was hard to imagine what she would look like if she were to be turned, as lovely as she was already to my eye.

I shook such thoughts from my head as I heard her speak again. "_No,_" she reiterated to my great amazement, by passing the turn. I knew not how to deal with a human that did not fear me and yet this one could also kill me, I had little doubt. I had seen her work with my own eyes and began to doubt if such a creature as the one seated but a handsbreath from me was truly human despite her rhythmically pumping heart that echoed in my ears.

I watched this lady to see if there was anything I could find of her that marked her as not human outside of her actions for something should show me if she be other. Not a child of the moon for those I knew of from my early days in Italy but perhaps something I had never encountered prior. If there are vampires and werewolves, what of witches and goblins? The witches that were hunted in the 17th century were but men and women who were targeted for their land or money and little more than that. No true witches were ever found to my knowledge but that did not mean they did not exist.

"_I am going to pick up my dog, just like I told Esme. You do not just barge in and demand me to drive like that. I don't care what you are, I am not your driver_," she said on to me in what seemed but a single breath, her voice filled with anger and rage. Yet, in that simple breath did a wealth of information she give for I now knew the vampire woman's name. Esme. I knew of but one Esme amongst my kind and it did not seem a far stretch to assume that she is one in the same. Yet, still I wondered…

I could not help but smirk upon the many ironies in her statement as well for had I not just considered her a witch and yet she now wished to pick up her familiar. Not that I truly believed it to be the case for the more reasonable side of my mind did tell me she was nothing more than a human who knew much and nothing more though the idea that she was "nothing more" troubled me greatly. There was also the irony that she would speak unto a vampire in such a manner when her life was in danger; a woman explaining that she is not the driver to a man… So much. I turned to look out upon the world again and not upon the lady who was my savior.

"_Esme, hm_?" I asked for if it was one and the same Esme then where was her mate and her son? Had Edward taken off again and given up upon that foolish lifestyle? If so, he may be of some help once more though I am loathe to drag another in with the Guard upon us. "_Is she how you know of our existence?_" I asked as lightly as I might, having no wish to garner fear or more anger from my treasure that had saved me.

At my question did she quickly turn her head. If but by the power of her eyes did she have the ability to destroy me, I would no longer be able to gaze upon her or the world around us ever again. No, her anger I did not need but her fear may be helpful when I tell her what has transpired.

"_I fail to see how that is any of your concern right now_," she said in a manner that invoked a forgotten time for her voice I could now tell was accented with the slight hint of the pronunciation unique to the southern parts of the United States. It seemed to grow stronger as her anger at me built which I did find fascinating in a way.

Perhaps her anger would abide if I did tell her currently of why I did trespass into her vehicle and order her to leave the vampire woman's residence. I looked to the center of her truck and saw a great many plastic cases for various compact discs. I picked up one of Kurt Nilsen or so it said about the cover and began to examine it to see in an attempt to act as nonchalant as my Elizabetta was being. "_It is greatly my concern, and yours as well, when the rest of the Volturi guard are after me_," I stated simply as I glanced over the object in my hand to see her reaction.

All stiffness left her jaw and all fight left her perfect green eyes. Her shoulders did not relax but she became as still as a human could be while still driving ahead to where this dog was being kept, I assumed. "_Ah, yes, so you do know of them. You know a great deal more than you should, _my dear_. They won't take kindly to that," _I told her, curious in regards to her reaction. Me she did not fear but the Volturi guard? Did she not know of how sweetly her blood smelled or did she know that I would not drink from those ambrosial veins that were nearly visible beneath her creamy nearly translucent skin? Such skin did look to not have seen the sun's light in many years and yet such a look was not popular anymore. I had not seen a healthy skin that pale for nearly a century.

My comments seemed to invoke the anger in her again as she reached over at a quick human pace as I twirled the compact disc case between my fingers and did slap at my arm that held the plastic object. "_Stop that_," she stated as she reached for me, verbalizing what her hand had already told me; she did not wish for me to play with the object. Such an action did cause some amusement in me and I smiled kindly at her for should she not know better than to attempt to hit a vampire?

I watched as she sucked in her bottom lip a bit as if to bit upon the succulent pink flesh that looked too perfect, soft, and warm to my eyes. But a taste of her lips… Too quickly did the lady look away as she did park the car before an establishment that clearly was meant to house animals. I regretted not being able to see her face as she turned back to her task and took such a privilege away from me. "_Look_," she stated to which I did, her face briefly looking towards mine again as my face fell at her word. I was looking at her! Her silken hair that was pulled too tightly back into a plait rather than is the soft waves of maidenhood as they should about her shoulders and down her curvaceous back; her perfectly shaped although roman nose which did indicate to me that her blood is of my homeland, at least in part; and her crystal clear green eyes that gazed upon me with an unknown expression. Yes, I was looking upon her.

Again, she looked down at her hands as she spoke which did force me to control a growl that threatened to erupt. I knew not why other than the sheer frustration of not being able to gaze upon her face but even in that, I did not comprehend for why would such a thing bother me?

"_I'm going inside to pick up my pup. Once she's in the car, we'll discuss this more_," she stated to me. As if accepting some great truth did she ready herself with a deep breath before looking up again so that her entire face was visible to my eyes. If I were to travel with my savior and keep her safe, I was glad of two things; that she was a lady and of her beauty. Of course, both attributes to her would also cause of me a great distraction but a sweet distraction it was… That and her blood that I could not and would not drink from. She was an innocent and, in that, did I find my control again over the bloodlust. The simple act of having eaten earlier as well as the knowledge that she did save me so thusly have I need of saving her also helped curb even the slightest hint of any appetite I might have for her citrus and rose scented blood.

"_If the guards are after you then they are probably going to come after me too. I don't want them to hurt Esme or any of the rest of her family, alright?_" she asked if unsure of what my reaction would be in her soft southern voice. Given that I had taken the woman from her home and demanded she drove away from a vampire that it was clear she trusted to some degree, I did understand her hesitation. What was it they called in now? _Carjacking_? I suppose that was the term that would best describe the crime I had committed against this little treasure.

Cleary, she had fear of the guard and that was fear enough. She wished to discuss this further so I took no issue with her retrieving her prized pet. "_Go, retrieve your pet. I will wait_," I spoke unto her as gently as I was able.

Nodding but once to my direction, I watched as she moved from out of her truck, the shuddering grace as she slipped from her seat and the soles of her shoes hit the gravel the truck was currently parked on. I noticed the look upon her face as she walked to the door for I had seen such a look before on both my kind and those of our prey. It was the look that most wore upon awaiting the return of their mate or another dearly loved one. Was this not a place for mere animals and did she not say that she wished to pick up her pup? The idea of a familiar again crossed my mind though I did doubt the theory greatly.

Rather, the look may be out of knowing that she was to retrieve something normal although clearly precious to her; a result of this situation in which my presence had only added to her stress though it was necessary for me to stay so that I may keep my savoir alive. I would repay the great debt in some small measure for, although I did so reciprocally, she did save me out of the goodness of her own heart –something I truly could never repay.

My eyes followed Elizabetta as she walked to the counter where another young woman stood and though I could not heard the words that they spoke to each other, I could see the movements of the two bodies. The young woman was filled with a lightness to her than my Elizabetta did not like though she tried hard to not let it show. The slight narrowing of her eyes and the lack of emotion upon the little treasure's face made me smile a bit for her annoyance had but moments earlier been directed at me.

I could tell that my dark hair savior was simply asking for her dog but still, I watched each movement, finding myself curious about this human woman. The curiosity I had regarding her earlier had only grown upon being able to speak more than but a few words unto this beautiful angel. I watched as she swung her hips slightly to reach for her wallet as it lay on a chain to her side, the look of amusement play across her lips as the other woman glanced at the green currency handed to her. I noticed the strangeness of her movements in comparison to most humans I had observed for my little treasure seemed to walk a bit differently –as if she were trying not to be fluid in her movements- and her arms did move differently when she reached across. I knew not what I was seeing other than it did not look as how most humans moved.

Again, the thought that she was not human played in my mind. The only way to solve such a riddle would be to ask but human minds are not like vampire ones, this much I did know, and I needed my Elizabetta to focus upon the Volturi Guard for the time being. To ask of anything other, she would not take my warning seriously and I did not wish for that to occur.

When the sprightly woman returned I saw Elizabetta's face come alive; as if she were seeing again a long lost lover or her beloved child. Perhaps that is what her precious dog was to her; a child, for I had often heard of humans refer to their pets as their "_fur children"_ in this modern age. Even in my human life, I recalled many a lady declaring that to love the woman was to love her dog.

What surprised me most was as the dog itself for I was expecting some sort of common breed that many have of this day and not the white and ginger I did see come about the corner, the force of the dog's tail making its entire body shake in jubilation. The dog my savior bent to retrieve and bundle in her arms was a dog common for the ladies of Italy during my human life and much into my earlier existence but not one I saw much of today. Had I not also thought of how much Elizabetta looked as a lady of my time? The combination allowed me to see how much so for all she required was a gown of a lady from my human life to look the part of a perfect Venus or the idolized beauty of my time. For it was not in hair and eye color that we defined the most beautiful but in shapeliness and perfect skin; what I still considered to be true beauty. And yet here she was before me as a simple human girl who did the deed of an Olympian goddess in destroying the vampire Guardswoman, Jane.

It was not long until Elizabetta turned to leave, her dog's front paws draped over her arm as if the sable furs to which many women held in my time about them, that I did see the look of frustration or perhaps something else grace her lovely features. I was curious of how quickly I might be able to force a different look from her, the nervousness of an encounter as a new lover bent in for a kiss, but I could not yet. She was not a common human woman and I could not treat her as such. This was my savior and I would not hurt her or so I did remind myself upon thinking of my previous human lovers, all of whom ended up as little more than corpses upon satin sheets. No, I could not take her as a lover or even being such a sport for not only was she my savior but she was no murderess . It was wrong to treat her as anything other the lady she had shown me to be thus far.

I watched her carefully as she placed the dog in the back of the truck, the dog immediately growling at me much to my amusement for how could such a small thing cause but the slightest harm to a vampire? Though even the dog's reaction was not typical for it did not bark –the vampire woman had asked about pets so perhaps the dog was accustom to us? It was quite strange but amusing for if nothing else, the dog was quite protective of her mistress.

Upon Elizabetta's entrance and return to the driver's seat –perhaps I should drive as a man should for his lady-, I but asked her of one thing, "_Now that you have retrieved your _zibellina_, may we go some place other than your Esme's home to speak?" _Her sable fur growled at me from the back of the truck though Elizabetta seemed to give her little attention or did not hear the growling despite it being quite loud.

"_Ginsie is not a flea fur,_" Elizabetta snapped at me as she pulled out of the gravel lot and on to the road once again. I was startled, not at her tone for I did expect as much, but at her knowledge. Zibellino –a sable fur- had been modernly translated as a flea fur or was commonly joked of as such within my time but it was not a word commonly used anymore and it was not an English word that I would expect a young American woman to know.

She glared at me as she felt my eyes upon her for I did not comprehend how this beauty could know of terms of my time, look as if from my time, and yet clearly belong to this time. She was human and therefore but a couple of decades old, perhaps as much as three, but no older and yet…

"_You know what _zibellino_ means_?" I asked of her with much surprise and disbelief coloring my tone for how could she know of such a thing?

With but one nod of her head, and her stiffen jaw, she did answer. "_I'm human, not an idiot_." No, she was not. She was a human that killed Jane with a combination that most would not have thought to use. She did seem to understand and comprehend much in what little time I have held to speak with this pretty little treasure to the point that I doubted much that anyone would dare accuse such a creature of being stupid. No, she was anything other.

"_Of no offense was meant, little treasure_," I apologized as quickly as I could with the word tesorina falling from my lips as I spoke for she indeed was my little treasure. My apology did seem to placate her for the time being and I watched as she drove. The color of her hair seemed to change as the light passed over it for the sun was making it's appearance again. I had little fear of it for the enclosure of the truck would allow me to simply turn from it as I did still have my leather gloves upon my hands. I was sure by the sight of the clouds that the sun would not stay long but it allowed me to see more fully the tones of her hair; copper, chocolate, ebony. Her ears were pierced twice –common in this day as it was in mine- and she had but glass cut as if diamonds in one of the piercings. It did seem wrong to me for they should be diamonds; this lady did not need such cheap pieces to grace her body. Indeed, she should wear nothing but pearls and colored gems of the earth…nothing else.

I sat quietly as did she drive upon the many roads in Ithaca, each more spaced than those of my home city New York. The world did look more open a place than I had seen in a few years. As I thought of how to begin for I had wished to speak, when I heard the very slight sound of her lips parting. "So, talk."

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**Author's Note:** I know. Cliffy. I'm evil. It's strange how what was only two or three pages in the other story is now seven over here. Gabriel's long winded….


	5. Chapter 5

La Luce della Luna

**Disclaimer:** Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stepheine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary:** The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's Note:** I *think* there is something funny going on with the reviews/alerts but I'm not sure. Also, realized I made one small mistake at the end of the last chapter and fixed it. They aren't at the dog park yet. This chapter….took so long because a) I lost internet and b) I'm at WAR! Pennsic War that is. Lots of fun. I'm wearing full 16th century Italian while writing this. Way to get into the mood, huh? :-)

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Chapter 5

Though her words sounded as those out of anger, there was not heat in her eyes as she spoke to me and told me to speak. It was an odd thing for a human to be so direct, to essentially order, a vampire to do anything but, for her, would I comply. She was nothing of a normal human for my little treasure had shown me little in her actions to suggest any normal response –even her sable fur that did growl at me from behind was not normal for most canines would bark loudly and jump back from those of us that were vampires. Perhaps too little have I looked at the world around me in such a long time though I did regularly speak with one or more of the officers upon any crime scene to gain insights into my next meal.

"_How much do you know of the Volturi guard and of the Volturi themselves_?" I asked believing it to be the best way to proceed. I did not wish to confuse the lady beside me whose hands had fallen to her lap. I briefed but one glance at her jean covered legs that were no longer hidden in shape by the fabric of a skirt. As much as I might wish to dwell upon the shapeliness of her form, I could not allow myself to be distracted. Instead, I turned my eyes to her face where I saw those perfect pink lips become hidden from view as she bit down upon them in a show of what I believed to be frustration. I knew not why for had I not spoken?

"_Enough_," she spoke on to me in a short manner but in a way that told me that she was holding a great deal of information back. I was curious as to why for what secrets could one whose years upon this Earth were so limited possibly have? That she knew of my kind seemed to be a secret that she would no longer have need to be protected of given that I knew well of her knowledge of us.

"_Enough?_" I asked in response for it was my hope to gain more information out of her but it was a hope unrealized. For her own response was to but nod and continue to look ahead at the road as she drove and not deviate her eyes from it. It was of little matter since she had a beautiful silhouette that I could see easily from this angle and gaze upon her nose, the color of her right eye, the beautiful angle of her neck….

Upon her nodding did I sit back a bit in thought, amused that she had no fear of me. For here I was but a few feet from her alabaster neck and she did not move to run or to escape; it would be a useless gesture, granted, but it seemed that all humans did move it that way. Perhaps it was because I saw her not as food despite her sweet smelling blood and her instincts told her I would not harm her. I knew not.

However, there were far larger questions I held within me at the moment for I had need to know of how much this little treasure, this sweet smelling pet, did know of us and of the guard. Perhaps a more directed question would allow for me to ascertain her knowledge so I might know of what to tell her in truth.

I thought on my many questions and could only begin with what I knew from that night that I met this pretty pet. "_You knew of Jane's…ability?_" I asked allowing no emotion to taint my question for if she did not, then a larger bit of questions did I have for this little treasure.

I watched her again as my Elizabetta looked straight ahead and nodded but this time no hint of anger was left in her features. Rather, she did turn slightly, in a quick human way, to look at me before she did seem look upon her one hand hold the wheel whilst her other arm leaned against the center consul that lay between us. A part of me wished to reach for that one creamy white hand and hold it my own if only to know her reaction to such a thing.

"_She could make you think you were on fire_," I heard the lady state in a tone no louder than a whispered breeze. My only thought for a moment was that she knew. She knew a great deal but it was impossible to know of how without asking many more questions. I am sure even with her frail human eyes she did catch my look of shock upon her answer.

"_Yes, she could_," I responded as I recalled that night in all its detail for, although only but a few days prior, time had no meaning to a vampire and I could recall it all from the smell of the pavement to sudden flame bursting not just from my throat but coursing through my entire being. It was as if I were being transformed again into something other and, noticing my own actions of these past few days, perhaps I was.

For never before would I think to save a particular humans life or to go as far as even to warn her for what were humans but the creatures we came from? They were our food and they were there to serve us, but nothing more. That, no longer could I hold to be true for this human woman was something more if only save for the fact that she did destroy one of my kind; a first, I am sure.

But then, she was unique for she had already shown me a knowledge beyond other humans marking her as something other, something to be respected and thusly have I tried to do though her very skin did call to me. As the seconds passed, I know longer even knew if the lust I felt for her was of her blood or of her body; acting upon either would destroy her and neither shall I do.

After a pause as I collected my thoughts and pushed Jane's death from my head only to think upon the Guard again and their tracking of us, no doubt, I spoke unto her again. "_Then you know of Alec? And Demetri as well, I assume?_"I asked of her to receive yet another nod in response. Her jaw again became tight and I did not understand why.

Leaning back again the seat, I thought perhaps it was being in my company that did make her angry –an odd reaction for a human but perhaps a useful one in her case- though it did not explain the vampire woman that Elizabetta had stayed with. So many questions I wished to ask but perhaps she would answer them in time. "_Good_," I stated to her as I watched her drive into a parking lot for a dog park. "_Then this should not be as hard to explain as I had prepare_," I continued for I had prepared to explain a great deal if she knew not more than names and faces. In having the knowledge of our kind and of the Volturi Guardsman already embedded into her conscious, I needed little more than the present situation to explain. No background was necessary.

Elizabetta pulled into a space and turned off the car. I realized how dangerous this was once the air did stop its circulation through the vents for no longer was air from the outside brought in but now it sat around me and I could smell her blood so much more strongly. I pressed myself against the seat and closed my eyes, feeling her own eyes upon me, for I did try to escape the sweet smelling blood that sat but a hairsbreath away from me. I need only reach over and grab…

"_Do you mind rolling down the windows? It is getting rather…hard_," I asked of her. I was again surprised by her action. Rather than ask any questions, the little treasure turned the key but once in the ignition and rolled down each window her vehicle had, from the passenger doors to the glass roof above us. I opened but one eye as the soft breezes from outside brought in the fresh air. In this air could I breathe and not think of hurting my savior for it pushed the scent of her blood away and filled the truck with the scents of grass, pine, and pavement.

The sounds of the two heartbeats in the car with me never ceasing and my knowledge of animals over the years –for, not matter what actions their owners may take, the do wish to run from me- I chuckled but once. The windows were open well enough to let the air in but anything may escape as well. "_You are not afraid that your…_," I stopped myself from referring to her pet as a sable fur. "_Dog may escape_?" I asked of the human lady before me, her soft warm flesh still calling to me despite the air from the cold of the outside. It was clearly no longer just the bloodlust that demanded I take her but my own lust and sin as well.

"_She won't run_," my Elizabetta stated with conviction as if it were an obvious statement. I suppose it might be if the sable fur was indeed use to being around vampires for all I heard from this dog were rumbles and growls that allowed me to know that it was greatly displeased with my presence. It did not bark or attempt to run for me at all; quite the loyal pup and a good companion for the human lady.

Smiling onto myself as I did speak, for I found much amusement still in my words, I stated to my savior, "_I have never heard of a human killing a vampire before_." For there was much truth in my words and yet here I sat with the such a creature next to me as one that could destroy us all. "_At least not intentionally. Perhaps in a war with bombs and the like, but not in your manner_," I clarified for I could think of many that were destroyed in recent wars upon the past hundred years. Though the poisonous gases they may use have no affect upon those that have no need to breathe, the nuclear bomb was shown to be quite devastating to a vampire. I had only seen one and it was if looking upon a wax doll left too long in the sun. She had been traveling to Italy to give report on the conditions in Japan after Hiroshima and never did any see of her again. Her mate had been destroyed in the blast…

A small smile was placed upon my lips as I watched Elizabetta eyes move in a counterclockwise direction, one slightly slower than the other as her green orbs did look from the side then up and to the other side before she looked chilled. Her skin was raised and she moved quickly from side to side as if something did snake its way up her long perfect back. I did wish that I could slowly, as if my fingers became feathers, brush against her spine and feel that creamy white warmth as she shivered beneath me rather than from the cold.

I saw her glance behind and her eyes fall upon a blanket tucked into the multitude of luggage and linens that were placed behind us but clearly too far for her reach. Wishing not for any pain to be upon my savior, I quickly retrieved the blanket, much to the displeasure of her sable fur, and placed it around her. She should not suffer due to my own inability to be able to sit within her truck without needing the ventilated air to think properly. If all I could do now, due to my own weakness, was to comforter her with a simple blanket, then gladly would I give her ten but it was clear it was but the one she wanted.

"_Thank you_," she whispered as the dear lady pulled the blanket more tightly around her. How weak I was to even consider to drink from the one that saved me and yet how strong was this human lady who dared to suffer through the cold if it meant to help me with my own weaknesses. She was too strong for a human, too strange, and yet there she was.

I nodded as she expressed her gratitude prior to returning to my prior position and again closing my eyes for to cut off the visual sense did help control the one lust while breathing in the air from outside the car did help control the other. "_Sunday came and with it came Demetri_," I informed her. I peeked but slightly to gauge her reaction to his name and to see what she may think of the Guard again. She sat there in a most stoic of manners, actively listening as she clutched her blanket about her as a shield against the cold breeze. There was no indication that the word held fear for her now; it was if she were hearing but a bedtime story, some sort of fairy tale, if the look in her eyes be true.

Seeing no fear I closed my eyes again prior to my continuing. "_He had found me not far from one of the more crime ridden neighborhoods_," I stated prior to realizing that it may be best to see if she would display any emotion for I needed to be sure she was listening and listening well so that she fully comprehended the threat that now lay upon us. "_How you humans cause such vile acts against your own kind is far behind my comprehension_," I stated knowing well that I have seen both the best and worst of the human kind, all within one night upon which I thought I was well and dead. The man I did intend to make my supper was the very worst and the lady that still sat next to me –and of whom was now glaring upon me- was the very best for she had shown compassion and helped one she did not even know.

Satisfied that she was listening to my words, I again closed my eyes so that I might not think upon her flesh; for to see such beauty was to want it and I did feel disgust within myself for not showing this little treasure the dignity she did deserve within my thoughts. It was difficult to not think of any woman as anything other than what I have for the past five hundred years for I had but three categories all were sorted into; mother, temptress, and nun. Yet this lady was not a nun, I did not think, and not a mother lest her sable fur be her child, and though she tempted me it was through my own lust and no fault of her own.

"_He is use to having a great deal of back up but is quicker than many of the other guards," _I explained as I thought upon that morn. For hours did I search for my next meal and upon draining him dry, I looked at the corpse he left. His fingers were no longer more than mere stubs for he had grasped at me in a rather hallow gesture for none could escape the vampire's deadly embrace. He had clawed at me for so long and hard as I drank every drop of his crimson blood, that where his fingernails and the top bits of fingers had been, barely a bit of blood did seep out. It was as I thought upon where to destroy the evidence of his corpse that Demetri found me.

"_I knew I did not have long before either Felix or Alec came to help deal with me_," I informed her as I recalled my own thoughts of that point. I suppose even vampires do have a fight or flee response when faced with their own kind. I remembered the Volturi Guard from before I left Italy and knew they all by name if not by person. Felix I may have been able to escape from with little incident but Alec's slow soft lulling ability that makes you lose all contact, texture, with the world by which we learn all things was not an ability I wished to test.

"_The only way I could think of to get away was to take what…remained of my meal and unfortunately throw a piece at him,_" I explained and immediately realized the error of my words. I had thought to choose them carefully but too comfortable had I become next to the warm human lady that I thought not of her as a human; for how many humans had I known before that knew of my kind except in those final moments before their death? None outside of Volterra and far outside of it were but not outside their reach or so it would seem.

I watched my Elizabetta turn red –not green or even paler as described in many books- as the blood flushed to her face. The smell of her citrus laced blood concentrated there near her perfect kissable lips. As much as I wished to give her nothing more than a lover's bite upon that lower lip, I knew even the smallest bit of blood would cause me to drain her of all her life and all my hope for I did hope that in saving her from the Guard that it would count against all my sins in some measure; for I would have but one small beacon of light in all this darkness that consumed my existence.

Her lips became taut and I knew by the look in her eyes she was not angry but ill at the thoughts my words created. I needed to distract this perfect creature and allow her to know that I would not hurt her; from her I would not drink for she was not a meal but my savior. "_My apologies_, _little treasure_," I whispered as I watched the emotions play across her face in rapt fascination for never had I studied a human so closely before. Even with the black widows that I intended to bed and feast upon, I only gave but enough notice of their human needs so that they would not see me as something other. Most were too curious about the amount of money I had to pay attention to much else.

Wishing such thoughts from my own head and my hope, to comfort Elizabetta, I gently lifted her left hand a brought that smooth creamy flesh to my cold hard lips. I felt the warmth against my lips and could smell so perfectly that deliciously sweet blood but I wished not for it since it belonged to this creature. All I wanted in that moment was for her to not be fearful of me and only of the Guard. Or so I believed but I found it impossible for me to let go of this alabaster hand that I held as tightly as I dared and yet as gently as I could for I wished her no pain. This simple act of palm to palm, a gesture now considered to be sweet and common, was not so in my time. To have the two open hands entwined was as if to have the two bodies entwined. Though I knew I could not bed her without drinking for her for the two lusts were too close, I could give her this; a simple kiss and my hand to hold her.

"_The man was not a good soul such as yours,_" I explained hoping to ease her fears for the moment. I looked into her perfect green eyes but she shook her head. I did not understand her reaction until she spoke again.

"_Continue_," she seemed to manage to push from somewhere in the depths of her just to speak that simple word. Was I too terrifying for my savior, a monster and demon? That I knew. I knew that no matter how much I wished for this creature that I did not deserve her and that I should not take such liberties with one that was trusting enough to sit her with a vile creature such as myself. I was the stuff of nightmares and she the stuff of dreams.

I let go of that alabaster hand only to watch her pull back into the blanket again and wrap it more tightly. Yes, a monster. I could not breathe the air inside the truck without wishing to kill her and dream of drinking her lifeblood. I needed the cold air to form any bit of rational thought and yet that same cold air hurt her. Still she sat. Still she listened. Thought no longer did I know why. As I thought of leaving her since a creature as vile as myself did not deserve to be in the presence of one like her, but one word came to my thoughts –the Guard. Despite my wretchedness, despite my weakness, I still had the ability to protect this little treasure from the Volturi Guard with all my might and I would do so. She needed protection.

"_Please_?" she asked of me to which I could not help but smile. She thought it right to use manners upon one such as myself. I knew not what she saw beyond the blood red eyes of a demon but it may also be that she used the words of gentleness and courtesy out of habit and nature and not for me alone. The latter being the most likely for a human woman was naturally scared of me and the only ones that had shown to be able to push down that fear where the ones that knew of the money I kept. Although, this creature saved me, knew nothing of me, and yet still here she sat.

"_It distracted him_," I informed her as I again turned in my seat so that I might not see those precious green eyes as they watched me. Even though I tried, I could still see them from the periphery of my vision. I thought upon that morn that was but on hours ago and not days. "_I was able to lose myself in the human maze of the subway system quickly,"_ I continued thinking of my path that I took to my silver horse_._ It may be a long while yet before I see it ever again though it mattered little. Possessions are passing for those that are among the unchanging.

"_It was then I decided to try and find you, to warn you of them. For if they found me, I had little doubt they might find the human that saved my existence as well_," I told her with much gladness for admitting my reasons for coming to her, for warning her, did bring me some joy. I had no wish to take her away from that Esme against her will but it was out of warning that I did so.

The lady beside me turned quiet as she gazed at some unknown outside the piece of glass that separated her from the rest of the world. It was clear by the expression upon her face that it was not the rest of the world that carried her attention but her own thoughts as the coursed through her head. I could not be privy to them but I could wait to hear what she might from out of those beautiful lips.

I watched as she leaned back against the seat, same as I had earlier upon the start of my tale, and cut off access to those green eye from me. I saw her laying against the seat and looked over every inch of her that I could though the blanket hid far too much from view allowing me only to see the skin upon her face and hands. Of course, it was too cold for her and I would not see more of that rather wonderful skin until we were somewhere more suitable for the lady.

"_I can't go back. I don't want to put the Cullens in danger_," I heard her say in a voice so soft that I doubt a human would have understood her. What did bring some clarification to my mind was what I suspected earlier, the Cullens. This Esme that kept Elizbetta as a pet of some sort was Esme Cullen. To know of the ones with golden eyes would indeed tell her of us all and it was little wonder that she held no fear of us.

"_The Cullens_?" I asked of her to which she nodded. Of course, perhaps I was wrong. Maybe she meant a human family and not a coven of vampires. This Esme might not be Esme Cullen at all though I doubted that very much for it was not a common name even now. There were but a few thousand of our kind and not the billions such as humans have. "_Hmmm, as in Edward and Carlisle Cullen_?" I asked to assure that we spoke of the same clan for it would not be good to discover that she spoke of someone else. As her beautiful green eyes, whose depth I would be able to lose myself within, widened, I knew that it was indeed the same clan.

So it had been Esme Cullen that I had seen upon the porch but an hour ago. It did make matters become clearer if those that did not partake of the blood of humans, those that went again what our kind indeed was, had among them a human pet. But I could not see this Elizabetta as allowing herself to be subservient to any despite their strength over her. She has no issues with allowing her opinion and ways be known, much as any great woman of my time might have been. No, she was not their pet but she may well have kept them!

Seeing the shock still clear upon her face, I moved my shoulders in a manner meant to convey my nonchalance that I did not completely feel. "_I knew Edward during the first years of the Great Depression upon this country. He was helpful in finding meals that were not innocent of any sins_," I told my Elizabetta in explanation.

It was from him I learned of those that call themselves vegetarians with their golden eyes. I recalled coming across the man child –for he was not grown and yet much more grown than many in this day and age though he would never change from his age of seventeen- within the region of the Great Lakes many years ago. Finding those that knew well of the crimes they did commit was made far easier with Edward's ability to read minds; for there were those among my kind that did have extra abilities, some where great and some were small. I had none that I knew of unless it was my sense of smell though I doubted that greatly for all vampires did have an enhanced ability to smell various things for many feet.

I watched still as her eyes did now narrow upon my form and again I saw the fire in her being; how alive she is! "_Who are you_?" she asked with genuine curiosity. If she knew the Cullens, I was curious who else upon my world she might now.

Easy was the question to answer for it was an answer I had repeated almost countless times over the many centuries to those of my kind but rarely to any human. Those humans that did ask such a question did not live long past the learning of the answer. Elizabetta would be the first. "_My name is Gabriel Caldola, Elizabetta. I was born 1485 in anno dominium, in a little village within the Kingdom of Naples. It was there that I was lived and died_," I told her as I had recited many times over.

My reaction to the next word out of her mouth did for much confusion from me for her simple reparation of my name, for her to speak my name "_Gabriel_";for much pride and much amusement in me though I knew not why. Why would such a simple act as repeating my name would cause more than curiosity in me did confuse me greatly for it was almost as if I were but some young man who did learn that his great lady did just learn his name –and perhaps that's all it was. Elizabetta, my great savior, did know my name as I knew hers.

My savior. It was her, whose hand I still held, that now I did have to save for the Volturi Guard would destroy such a perfect creature and this I could not allow. Releasing her perfect creamy white hand, I spoke again. "_You are correct. You cannot stay here if you wish no harm to come to the animal drinkers_," I told unto her. I could only imagine what she was thinking for she did not speak more. Perhaps it was worry out over her vampires, such as Esme._ "I think, with my demands upon you driving, that it should look as if I took you away without the Cullens permission. I do not believe the Volturi guard will harm them if they listen to your Esme's story,_" I informed her and I believed myself to be right.

When her face did twist into a look of pain, I felt less that admirable in my telling her of such things though it was needed. As she picked up the phone, I saw her type in a number and look eagerly upon the windshield of the car; it was only upon hearing the near panicked voice upon the other end speak Elizabetta's name that I realized to whom she called; Esme.

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**Author's Note**: I know, another cliffy. This one chapter in the other story is now going to be three in this one because Gabriel is very very long winded!


	6. Chapter 6

La Luce della Luna

**Disclaimer:** Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stepheine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary:** The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's Note:** Sorry this one took a bit. There are three reasons a) I was at Pennsic, b) I was working on my other story Aurora for Twilighted and c)I'm trying to get another site to take down what is very clearly the first 17 chapters of The Stars and the Sun plagiarized and put up by a little thief named Brianna. It's under "The Light and the Dark" on Twilight Archive if anyone else would like to report it. This horrible thief dared to steal my story and claim that even Ginsie was hers. ::looks down at feet, yeap, Ginsie, the furball, is still there:: Luckily, I don't think that site is updated very regularly and looks pretty much dead so I don't think any more damage can be caused….

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Chapter 6

"_The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves"_

_-Leonardo Da Vinci_

"_Elizabeth?_" the female vampire asked with such worry coloring her tone that it would be far harder to believe that she was play acting than genuine in her distress. Given that I, myself, have seen our kinds' unusual response to this human, I had little reason to believe that Esme did not truly agonize over my taking of her pet; or would that be her collector for I did not understand how a human such as Elizabetta could have such a pull upon our kind.

Turning to the human lady, I saw the colors upon her face change. Rather than the smooth alabaster with but a hint of pink upon her cheekbones, I saw the dark circles beneath her eyes and her nose began to turn a pinkish color. It was then I noticed the welling of her eyes as well and saw the first crystal tear escape. "_Esme_," she breathed into the phone as the tears started an uneven track down the curvature of her heart shaped face.

What I could hear in the car from being so close to the beautiful lady and her phone, what I doubted the human lady could hear, was Esme's small breath of relief. I knew what the female vampire must have believed prior to hearing Elizabetta's voice; that I, being of her kind and not one who survives on animals, had taken her little treasure as nothing more than a snack; as something to create animosity between myself and the Cullen clan. Though why any vampire would do such a thing other than as to commit the sin of suicide was well and beyond me. I was but one vampire and, from what I knew, the Cullen clan had grown rather large.

"_I'm so sorry_," Elizabetta did seem to choke out as the tears began to flow more freely, creating two crystal like watery treads down the sides of her porcelain like face. Her nose became more red, making the rest of her face look nearly as pale as my own skin. I knew not whether to laugh as her nose did turn such an odd color or pull her into my own arms and hold my savior as she battled with herself in such a way as I could not help her. It was her tears that tore me apart; here was my savior, the one that did save me from destruction, and I have caused her emotional anguish in taking her from someone –vampire or no- that she clearly did love. When she spoke her words of apology to Esme, I could only whisper lowly –to low for the human lady to hear- that I too was sorry.

"_Oh, Elizabeth, sweetheart_," the female vampire began on her end of the telephone. The pain in her voice now sounded unmistakable to me; no actor could pull off the sounds of a worried mother as this Esme could. No, based upon Elizabetta's tears and the sounds of Esme's voice, the little treasure loved her vampires and I was beginning to believe they loved her.

"_Are you alright? Where are you?_" the woman asked quickly as she could whilst speaking with a human. The fear and what I believe to be need in her voice for reassurance of Elizabetta's state was humbling, for it was I that caused the tears, the worry, the anxiety of these two women; I was nothing more than a harbinger of pain. I was a demon, for even now I looked at my savior as a thing of beauty and not as the gentle…no, righteous creature she was; for gentle she was not. She did what she believed to be right and I did strive to follow in her example and help her in this time of need yet I seem only to cause more pain.

"_I can't tell you right now_," Elizabetta told through the phone to her Esme quickly. She did not take a breath as she continued in her speech. "_Please, Esme, you've got to go home," _she stated through her tears. I thought to give her a handkerchief but none did I have for that was something of the gentleman I had been, something I strove to be again. Perhaps she held tissues in her car in some errant place that I knew not?

"_I think that Demetri might be after me. Please, Esme_," the little treasure did beg of the vampire. It struck me how much this human worried over a vampire –one that she must know is a great deal stronger than her and protected by a clan; for did she not say to go home? Elizabetta must know the rest of the Cullen clan and know that this Esme shall be safe with them.

But for a human to show such compassion, such love for a vampire! Was it due to their diet or because this creature sitting next to me was not a normal human; for I could not get the thought out of my head that perhaps she was a witch or some sort of creature that I had yet to encounter. It did not matter given that all was clear in her tears and her voice, my savior, our little treasure –for she did surely have more ties to the Cullens than to myself- loved this Esme a great deal and for any harm to come to this vampire woman would cause Elizabetta great anguish. This was not something that I could allow to occur.

Prior to my nearly snatching the phone from Elizabetta's hand to ask the woman vampire to join us, to bring this other vampire that my savior to love along and protect her as well –for if my savior loved her, than she was to be saved at all cost- I did hear the vampire on the other side's breathing stop suddenly. It was all but a moment and I did stop in my stead, wondering if this Esme would demand Elizabetta to come back to the house, when I did realize that it may have been the name _Demetri_ that caused her reaction. It would be a normal reaction to any that knew well of the Volturi Guard and what their abilities were.

"_Are you safe_?" this Esme did demand in a most gentle manner of our little treasure. Rather than answer directly, as I thought she might, Elizabetta turned to me and did seem to analysis me. Her perfect green eyes peered into my red ones as if searching their soullessness to see if any light did pass in their empty depths. I wished not to intimidate her, I wished not to be the demon I was as she scrutinized me without words and only by the look in her eyes. Was she safe? No. Though I refused to harm her, refused to drink of her potent sweet blood or even taste her plump lips and brush my fingers against the soft skin I knew was hidden by jean covered legs, I was not safe to be around.

Of course the Guard was but part of the issue; the other part was that I did not trust myself, despite my convictions, to be safe for her. To keep her with but one vampire –whom my savior did love- or to have her run with me was the question. If the Guard did stop to ask Esme any question, she need only tell them that I kidnapped a human girl and left. No harm would come to her –though it would be better if this Esme did return to her clan. It was safer for Elizabetta's emotions, I was sure, if Esme did take this human lady's advice.

Whatever Elizabetta was looking for, she must have found it for she did answer the female vampire upon the other end of the phone after a few moments. "_Yes, Esme. I'm fine_," she stated matter of factly prior to furrowing her brow and looking away from my gaze. It was to the backseat that she did look where her sable fur did still growl lowly at me."_I have Ginsie_," my savior tacked on as if repeating a list of errands that needed to be completed by the days end.

Esme let out the breath she had been holding for she had not taken in air, or so it sounded upon the phone, since prior to asking her question of Elizabetta. I believed the vampire woman to speak when our little treasure did surprise me again. Not by speaking, but by what she said. "_I will try to see you again soon but I need to make sure that the guards do not come after you for what I did. Please, go back to Forks_," Elizabetta asked in earnest of this vampire woman. I tried to recall the many towns and places by the name of Forks to which she may refer. Forks, Pennsylvania; Fork, Maryland; Grand Forks, North Dakota; Three Forks, Montana; Fork, South Carolina; Forks, Washington; West Fork, Arkansas; Animas Forks, Colorado; I am sure there were many more for the name was common to any town placed by the birth or intersection of two rivers, if not more. To wherever this place may be, I did hope that Esme would return to alleviate the worry of the precious pet beside me. Esme would be safe if Edward was still with her clan for Edward would hear Demetri's approach before he found them if Demetri was even knowledgeable of their secondary attachment in this.

"_Sweetheart, we'll figure something out_," came the soft pleadings of the female vampire as if a mother to her child, praying that the child may return home. I would almost believe that Esme was Elizabetta's mother if not that I knew Esme to be nearly a century old. Had not Edward told me of his mother like vampire that awaited him at home? It is only now that I understand his meaning upon hearing this woman's voice."_Please, come back and we'll go home together_," the female vampire pleaded unto my savior.

I do not know if Elizabetta realized it or not but her breathing hitched as if she did plan on stopping such a necessary for her action before she spoke again through the phone. I could see it in her expression, in her eyes, before she even uttered a single syllable of what she was about to say. The tears spoke for me as the continued to line her face. She would not jeopardize another; Elizabetta would rather risk herself than one she loved in this.

"_I'm sorry, Esme. I can't. Goodbye_," my little treasure stated with great sorrow in her voice. She did not wait for the other woman –with a good possibility of Esme talking Elizabetta out of the actions she was to take- and pulled the phone away from her ear, pressing but one button to end the entire call. I knew it would not be the last but the look in my savior's eyes stated she was unsure of such a belief. The grief and guilt were written on her face but for a second prior to attempts to erase it away.

It was as if she suddenly realized I was in the truck once more when my savior's expression changed. She went about her work quickly to open the center console –ah! That is where she keeps her disposable handkerchiefs!- and wiped the tears from her face. Though her eyes were still swollen from the salt water crystals that fell from them, her nose began to regain it's normal pale alabaster color. It was only when she moved to dispose of the tissue that took away her tears that I thought to say something to this precious pet.

Her tissue smelt of her, like some great perfume. As her body twisted to reach back, I could more perfectly see the tone of her arms, the perfect symmetry and proportions of her bust to her waist and hips, for even in this distressed state, she was still perfect, beautiful for it was her underlying bone structure that was within the realm of beauty. Beauty may be skin deep but one if it is by the skin you judge beauty. During my time, within the time of the Renaissance, beauty was judge not upon how thin or how fat one could be, but by the internal structure only God could give you. There were remedies and elixirs to make one's skin more appealing or to change the color of one's hair; but to change the structure of one's face was impossible. Even in this modern age, the bone structure is considered something unchangeable for all else can be fixed, corrected, and changed but that. Although I was unsure of how much longer that would be.

My hand and her soft creamy skin were separated by but a few layers of cotton as I gently squeezed her shoulder. Her green eyes looked unto me and I was again struck by the beauty of them. Even more magnificent did they look, as if green fields after a goodly rain, now that those tears had fallen from them. It did take me a moment to remember to speak.

"_I cannot believe that they will not forgive you for this_," I told her finding the very idea of a vampire offering forgiveness odd; for who would want forgiveness from the damned? Though, it was clear that she loved this Esme in her perfect green eyes and could we be that far gone, beyond all repentance, if love did still exist for us in any form?

I thought on that as Elizabetta turned her eyes from me. If a human could love one of our kind, despite our nature, was it possible that a vampire could truly be redeemed? Of course, the Cullen clan went against our very nature, fought against the demon that we were, and perhaps that is why. I had killed too many to bother with such a fight –I was beyond hope, but, perhaps, not these vampires. Perhaps others could find love, in any form –for I had never in my five hundred years even found my match, my mate though many others had- but I was surely damned for my deeds for even my human life ended in blood.

As I came to the conclusion that perhaps those that had lived as they should upon their human lives might still have a chance at redemption, I looked about the interior and exterior of my savior's vehicle. We had been in one spot for too long and I knew not if the Guard had been able to catch my trail or not. I was unsure of how Demetri's ability worked, only that it worked well and that I did not wish to stay in one spot for very long unless absolutely necessary –particularly whilst we were still within the same state's borders.

"_We should go_," I informed the little treasure, whose eyes were cast down upon her hands. It was if she were attempting to remind herself of something or if she were preparing herself for something I knew not of. However, upon my words, did she look upon me again and I saw that flash of anger, of passion, in her eyes that reminded me that this was no ordinary human lady once again.

"_We_?" she asked in a mystified voice. I was surprised and angered by this question though I did not fully understand why. Of course I would protect her, of course I would follow her. Who else was there to help this human vampire slayer against three of the world's most power vampires than myself? The vampire that she saved from the clutches of Death and a true eternal Hell but a few nights ago. The Cullen clan, this little treasure had tried to sway away, should not be involved if only due to her love for them.

"_I will not let my savior die at the hands of another vampire,"_ I stated quickly with a clenched fist for I did swear that that shall not happen. She will be saved and not destroyed by the Guard.

"_And since the other vampires you know cannot protect you without placing themselves at risk, I shall keep my own watch upon you_," I further explained, hoping to sound as nonchalant as possible while alleviating her fears. Again, she surprised me for her eyes showed even more passion now, as if her anger had completely reflared within the depths of her soul. Her soul, it was that that I would protect for mine was beyond redemption.

"_You_?" the little treasure reiterated. Truly, it was comical in a way for she showed no fear of me –a vampire, a human blood drinker that she had known for but a few days, hours- and yet I could find no humor in this situation; only the insatiable need to protect this most precious pet.

"_There is no other choice_," I informed her as I turned away from her furious green eyes and looked upon the windshield again. We had no choice. She needed to be protected from the Guard and the Guard were already after me. Any other vampire that were upon the Guard's hit list would kill her, drink her blood –such anger welled in me at the very thought!- and, of course, were not known for their honorable intentions. The Guard did normally destroy only those that had broken the law, that deserved a final end to the deepest pits of Hell. They were only wrong in this instance for they did not have all the facts…

Of course, the human lady knew too much. She knew far too much for she had discovered how to kill our kind with a crude but highly effective weaponry out of nothing more than a can of hairspray and a typically cigarette lighter. Death was the normal punishment for such knowledge but turning such a human with knowledge of our kind was also a possibility. She would then be forced to keep the secret to protect herself as well as all the rest of our kind.

The idea of turning her hurt me for what if she had no wish to live forever? To become one of the damned? This lady had too good a heart to be turned but she would not be of this soft flesh anymore… I could taste her sweet lips and place myself between her soft thighs without the call of her blood being any issue…

It was too much to think on, too tempting. Yet another temptation and one that was so close to the kind that I did normally succumb to that I found it hard to place out of my mind. The feel of her soft flesh…

"_Now, would you prefer for me to drive or shall we be upon our way_?" I asked quickly without allowing my thoughts to go past various images that I would not allow my imagination to fully explore. Seeing her in my mind would not be the same as having her for myself. No, my mind told me, it would be better to have her for myself, sweeter, like her sweet blood. Neither shall I give into for both could destroy her; unless I turned her but for what? To have yet another woman for but a few months, a year perhaps, before I bore of her?

I was surprised by the resounding No that echoed in my head. I could only believe that it was there due to the simple fact that this was my savior and I should not have such thoughts about her; but, also, that due to her saving me, I would be eternally grateful, which did have a very different meaning when one plans to live forever. No, I would not bore of her but she may bore of me.

I heard the mix of growling and words that sounded like "_Fine, whatever_," come from my savior. It was an interesting phenomena to hear a human growl in the presence of a vampire for never before has I heard such a sound. Most humans were too frightful of us or too far gone in their illness to be bothered with more than a laugh or a tearful plea. Elizabetta though, had no fear of us –and rightly so if she could destroy our kind. Her growl came from the back of her throat, a rolling sound like the a far off tornado when she spoke her words lowly; I did not think I was to hear them.

I watched carefully as she went about starting the vehicle; turning the key so that the engine might start, releasing the parking break, moving the truck into reverse. As she did that last part, she placed her hand, automatically, I believe, behind the head rest of my seat and clearly caught a glimpse of me from the corner of her eyes for the corners of her mouth did turn in an upright position. "_Alright_," she stated as if she suddenly realized that she had the upper hand in this little game we were in. For, in many ways, she did. She knew how to destroy me. She must know that if I killed her –not only would I wish for Death- but it would come quickly, no doubt, by the hands of the Cullen clan or by the Guard – to whoever found me first. There was also that she had killed Jane and to kill me would be little different, other than I would welcome Death at her hands rather than by Jane's.

The anger still was in her eyes but her sweet lips were twisted into a heathen's smile –not the smile of a joyful lady. I was curious as to what she would say to me as her eyes met my red ones. "_But you've got to become an animal drinker if you are sticking with me_," she stated and to that I had no reply.

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**Author's Note:** Don't worry, we'll actually get to hear the discussion this time but in the next chapter. :-) Review, please?


	7. Chapter 7

La luce della Luna

**Disclaimer**: Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stephine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary**: The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's note**: I am so sorry this one took so long to get out. I've switched jobs and have been super busy with a) pushing out resumes because I had to leave my old job and then b) getting settled into my new job. I'm still working on b... But now that I have a new job, my writer's block is slowly leaving me and I should be able to keep up a bit more with my writing (now that I'm not sending out 20 resumes a day...).

I really hope everyone likes this chapter. It has Carlisle and Jasper in it. Jasper gets to play the part of overprotective vampire a bit. I, again, split up the chapter. This vaguely corresponds to Chapter 15 in The Stars and the Sun...but so will the next chapter. :-)

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Chapter 7

_Why came I hither but to that intent?_  
_ Think you ... a little din can daunt mine ears?  
Have I not in my time heard lions roar?  
Have I not heard the sea puff'd up with winds  
Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?  
Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,  
And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?  
Have I not in a pitched battle heard  
Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets' clang?  
And do you tell me of a woman's tongue,  
That gives not half so great a blow to hear  
As will a chestnut in a farmer's fire?_  
_ Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs._

_-Taming of the Shrew  
_

There was but one resounding answer to Elizabetta's statement that I could give. "_No_," I stated to which the human lady did raise her brow at me in a questioning way, as if to say who was I to defy her? "_I will not drink from animals_," I told her as I watched the signs and noticed the direction to which we were going. It would seem that Elizabetta wished to head west which was of little matter. As long as she did not head to the city of New York where the Volturi Guard may still linger.

"_Why not_?" she asked as if she did expect to have the higher argument.

I did hold back but a small hint of laughter for this little treasure did seem to be a walking argument within herself. A weak human but yet she killed a vampire; a woman yet truly I have already seen her will be as strong as that of any man; and she should no fear in my kind though she should. Perhaps she was touched and unable to react in a way that would be appropriate towards a predator such as myself?

"_Do you not eat animals_?" I asked thinking of how to win this argument without allowing her to have any room to debate much more.

"_Yes?_" she stated in a way I knew I was to continue. I smiled, already feeling the glory of triumph in my argument.

"_If humans eat animals, it is due to their being higher in the order of all life. Vampires are predators created to drink from those that feast upon animals_," I informed her though I did hope not to scare the human lady.

Rather than fear, I saw her hands clench the steering wheel as tightly as she might. I noticed the narrowing of her eyes and the decisive look about her. Of course, Elizabetta would not leave it at that; I did not believe she would.

"_So does that mean I can eat vegetarians_?" she asked rather suddenly; her question being one of which I did not fully understand.

"_You are human_," I began slowly, as I wished her to explain her question for little sense did it make to me.

"_Yes_," she replied as if I amused her greatly. I furrowed my brow and rubbed my chin in thought before she did more fully answer. "_If you drink from those that feast upon animals_," she began in a way to imitate my own manner of speech to which I found peculiar though not unwelcomed. "_And animals eat vegetables, then do those that feast upon animals get to eat those that eat only vegetables_?"

"Elizabetta," I began as she was being far less than serious upon this matter. Did she not understand that a vampire was a dangerous creature? A soulless demon that preyed upon humans for its nourishment? Though she did seem to know much in theory it seemed little did she comprehend in practice.

"_Nuh huh_," she interrupted, a smile pulling at those perfect red lips. "_It's a perfectly good question. I want to know if I can go eat some animal liberation front member tonight or not,_" she did tease to which I grew angry thought mostly at myself for I did despise not having the choice to live as humans do and to be this demon creature.

"_It is not natural_!" I informed her as I clutched my fists together. For a vampire to forsake their true self and to only live off the blood of animals was to say this life was not a condemnation for our sins but to say this is but purgatory –a middle ground between Heaven and Hell. It was to say that we could still be saved. But how could we when the fires of Hell did burn us from our very tongues as the mere scent of a human passing by?

"_Neither is a human killing a vampire_," she informed me in such a manner that I did find it hard to think upon a counterargument to her own. Of course, she was human and, being that she was my savior, did I not owe her my very existence? The disgust of animal blood seemed a small price to pay to ensure the safety and what little sanity my savior did have left.

"_I cannot promise that I shall be perfect in this measure_," I informed her and did catch as she took but a satisfied look upon me knowing well that she had won. Was there a vampire that could go against her in arms or in words? I began to doubt as such for how did one compete with a creature that was not to be? "_But I will try_."

I caught the hint of a smile grace her face and saw how lovely she did look. Her eyes seemed more jubilant than her lips, the soft green looking ahead at the road as she drove. Noticing her look that I thought smug, I turned to the windshield and did narrow my own eyes. "_That does mean I shall not be perfect and may take human blood from time to time_," I reiterated, wondering if such a blunt comment would scare her. She knew what we were but did she truly understand it? It had little effect other than to cause the little treasure to roll her eyes and say nothing more.

The minutes ticked by slowly to the beat of the dulcimer upon her small electronic music player –surprised was I to hear the sounds of music from my own time as well as much older upon the speaker system. I had expected something more wild with her but only heard but a few songs that were of this time and this age; I listened intently as the songs switched from one another -14th century to 21st and back again. It was odd how, hearing such things together, I did enjoy them but to have a human who did not grow with the changes of the music to enjoy them as well? It was but another measure to her oddity and probably a mark upon her sanity.

The only other sounds within her vehicle were the consistent beeping upon once every twenty seconds of Elizabetta's mobile phone as well as the soft growls of her pup as the sable fur laid down behind me. I could also hear the repeated sound of the pistons as they rose and fell in the engine of the truck, each repetition almost in time with the soft beating of Elizabetta's heart. The vital sound that was as mouthwatering as it was endearing for it did mean that my savior was but near me and there would I keep her so that she may be safe; for who would allow a human who knew so much and had so little sense as to keep herself away from vampires out upon her own?

But an half hour passed before the little treasure did seem to come out of a trace of some sort. She glanced at her mobile phone as we continued westward along the highway, the beeping of it seeming to finally enter into her consciousness. Gently, she went to pick up the noisy thing whilst she did take an exit onto yet another highway, continuing our westward direction. She looked at the screen in a peculiar manner, having but one hand upon the wheel. Such as that was not that frightened me; it was that, to turn upon the exit so as to merge upon the new highway she wished to go, she used her knee to push the wheel the extra way, hold the wheel for less than a second betwixt her knees, and the re grab the wheel once again with her hand. It was terrifying for it was dangerous and though I had no fear of my own safety, I did of hers.

"_Hello_?" She spoke upon the phone though there was little question in her green eyes. I watched carefully this human lady's movements for most humans did not seem to drive as she did; 80 miles per an hour down a highway while speaking upon the phone with but one hand upon the wheel and still managing to drive in such a manner that it was little difference than when she had been driving upon the roads at 40 with both hands upon the wheel. I did not think humans could drive like that and to know her reflexes were not quick enough to save her car from some damage if he hand –or knee!- should slip given that she seemed comfortable to use either in order to steer the vehicle…

"_Elizabeth, can you please tell us where you are heading? Esme is very worried about you_," a masculine voice to ask of her upon the phone. Being a vampire, I am endowed with certain abilities, including the ability to easily hear a phone conversation such as this given my proximity to the little treasure. I watched as my savior's face did crumble before regaining some composure. Whomever she did speak to was someone that not only did know Esme but someone that Elizabetta did seem to like based upon her expressions.

"_Ah…_," She began but did stop as if she were confused. I could see the very start of water begin to collect in her eyes. "_Ah don't know_," she continued. It was as if with those words she awakened from some sort of sleep. Her eyes went from an unfathomable sadness to one of determination. I did not comprehend why and looked to follow her gaze. I saw nothing upon the highway other than signs that indicated we were continuing upon our westward journey.

"_It's becoming clearer_," a feminine voice stated, clearly not upon the phone but nearby it. She was most likely close enough that even Elizabetta's weak human ears would pick up the sounds of this other woman or girl's voice. "_I think she's going to a…railroad house near Lake Erie_?" the woman girl stated in the background. What surprised me was Elizabetta's reaction upon hearing the woman girl's words; she started to laugh.

"_It's a hotel, or was in the 1920'_s," she answered. Despite the attempt at a laugh, I could still see the pain, the sadness taking form though my sweet savior did try to hide it.

"_A hotel_?" the masculine voice asked of Elizabetta. She sucked in her lips, biting down upon them, her face turning paler for the moment, before she did answer the man.

"_Ah_…," She started, her accent coming through. The little treasure began to think better of her words and shook her head but slight, or so it seemed. "_Please, Carlisle, don't come lookin' for me_," she informed the man. Ah, Carlisle. From what I knew of him through Edward and through legend, it is little surprise that he could bring out such emotion for this human lady for he was often said to be a man of great character. It was clear upon Elizabetta's face that she did love him in a very familial way. "_Ah don't want ya or any of your family to get hurt_," the little pet did state as she spoke with a slightly higher inflection. I could see the water brimming in her green eyes but it was also clear that she fought against the turning tide in her eyes greatly. She had no wish to cry.

Silence. It was but a few nanoseconds but it spoke volumes on it's own for the male vampire upon the other end of the phone did not speak right away either. Indeed, it was our little treasure that did speak again. "_Did Esme_," she began but a single tear did escape from her eye. I did nearly wish to rescue it from her face though I knew not why and to at least comfort this lady in some way for it was I that took her from those that she loved. It was through my own actions, my own sins, that I have torn her from her home.

Her breathing hitched slightly as the tear continued it's escape, rolling down her face towards her rounded chin. Elizabetta bit her bottom lip before she spoke again. "_Is she headin' home_?" her voice did crack out for she was but at a human whisper in volume and her tone held something of worry and sadness in it.

"_Esme is on her way to the airport_," Carlisle replied in a way to offset any fears that did show in this human lady's tone. "_We will see her again in a few hours_," he did continue though his tone changed slightly. I recall that Edward had stated that Esme was Carlisle's mate though he used the term wife oft to describe her. If that be true, then his words were more of a relief and a reminder to himself than to add comfort to our little treasure.

Though, such words did bring relief to her for she did sigh upon hearing them and relief filled her face. The tears that had threatened began to recede on their own as calm came over her. Was this one human really truly so caring towards those that saw her as part of their natural food source? Granted, the animal eaters or the chupacabras as they are called in the language of Spain would not see my savior as such nor did I but still! For a human to show such love, such compassion to vampires and for her to save me? It was not out of disgust of Jane that she killed her but out of the need to preserve another existence. I could not help but marvel at such.

"_Thank you_," she stated softly but with such emotion behind it that it was clear there were many words that Elizabetta wished to express to this male vampire upon the phone.

"_Elizabeth, I believe my entire family would be much relieved if you choose to come here as well. None of us find the idea of you traveling with a typical vampire very comforting_," Carlisle informed the human lady aft he did clear his throat –a very human gesture no doubt done for her benefit. I did smirk at his words for it did mean that they cared not for my sake but for the sake of the lady. They wished her to be unharmed and this was precisely the reason that I did enter her vehicle as she left the confines to the Cullen house in Ithaca. I would not allow the Guard to hurt her.

"_I'm so sorry, Carlisle," _she stated in such a way that no one could doubt the truth of her words. The simple English word of _sorry_ did not sound like it could contain a hint of the depth of the feeling she wished to express yet, what sin has she committed again this clan? For all of it was mine and mine alone. Though she did save me from Jane's fire, this simple yet beautiful creature could not stop a vampire.

"_I can't put your family in danger_. _Ah just can't,_" the little treasure did pled with the other male vampire. Angry arose in me at the idea that he might not accept this lady's apology and ignore her pleadings. This human was my savior and if any did see her as but another human, it was I they would deal with it.

Carlisle's answer was his saving grace for if he has answered any other way than the simple but sad "_I understand_", if he caused the one who risked her life to save me, an unknown to her, any pain, I would go across the country myself to inflict ten times the pain upon him. For she was a human and he was a vampire, already superior in strength.

But still I saw pain upon her face and upon her motions. Her entire body vibrated with what I could but describe as frustration and sadness –both emotions that wrecked me for I placed them upon her. It is my doing, my sins, that placed her in this position and, for that, it is my duty to alleviate the burden I have placed upon her by keeping her safe from the Guard and, perhaps, getting her back to this clan if they truly do love her as their pet.

"_We will always be here for you, Elizabeth. If you change your mind, simply come home_," Carlisle informed my savior. Another male did speak in the distance from the phone. His voice was faint –if I held the phone, I have no doubt that I would hear him but with the receiver being three feet from my own ears and being held against the soft creamy alabaster skin of this perfect creature, this sin eater, I heard but a tone that indicated a masculine voice.

"_Jasper would like to speak with you, if you do not mind_," Carlisle once again spoke and it was to Elizabetta's reactions I did find curiosity. She blinked and looked surprised by the words that this father figure did speak. Whoever this Jasper was, he is not one that my savior expected to speak with.

"_Umm, sure_," she more questioned that stated for her voice still held the sounds of surprise in it. There was silence for two seconds prior to another, very different sounding, masculine voice speaking upon the phone.

"_Elizabeth_?" this man asked. I could gather nothing from this single word other than he knew her.

"_Hi, Jasper_," she stated easily but her visage was something to behold. Her brow knitted in confusion that did not match her tone. Immediately upon speaking did she press her lips, draw them inwards, and bite down as if considering something. What I would not give to have Edward's ability at this moment so that all would reveal itself to me without the need to question my savior with endless questions and, most likely, get little in the way of answers.

"_Elizabeth, is he keeping you hostage_?" this Jasper asked of her in a very ordered, matter of fact tone. That he cared for her wasn't so much the question as much as his accent –which was deeper than my Elizabetta's- was clearly from the Southern part of the United States of America. His manner of speaking in this single sentence suggested a leader of some kind.

"_No_," she stated without a moment's hesitation. Her posture relaxed a bit as she understood his question. What was this Jasper's relationship to my savior?

"_You are staying away of your own free will then_?" this Jasper asked of Elizabetta. His tone changed but slightly, as if he were questioning her judgment- given that she was traveling in close quarters with none but a vampire who did dine off of her own kind, I could understand his trepidation in her answer to a certain extant. As long as he wished no harm to befall her, then I could fault him not.

"_I won't let the guards hurt y'all, Jasper_," Elizabetta stated with determination that echoed itself in the way her jaw did become taunt once again and the fierceness with which she held the phone. Such as her words had already been expressed in that she wished this Esme to return without her. They did not surprise me.

"_I know what they are capable of_," she continued but these words did leave me somewhat stunned for again I became curious as to how this single human lady did know of the Volturi and her connection to them. It was beyond question that she knew of them and their ability but was it not through the Cullens that she learned of Volterra's power? It was all I could consider for the Volturi would never let a human leave their service alive.

Quickly did this other male answer her in a tone that I assume was meant to be soothing though I found it grating upon my ears. "_Alright, Elizabeth_," he spoke as if attempting to call a child though the lady seemed not suspect of it. "_Would you please hand the phone to the one that kidnapped you_?" Jasper did ask of her next.

I am sure that my expression was very much a mirror of what I saw cross the lady Elizabetta's face for much curiosity and apprehension did I have in talking to this one of my kind that knew Elizabetta and had at least some measure of care for her regard. I knew not why –whether it was through her own assets or for the regard to the one known as Esme- but either way, this Jasper did show some concern for my savior.

A quick glance of her piercing green eyes was all I was afforded upon the question. She bit her bottom lip prior to speaking again to which I though upon biting those deep pink lips of hers as a lover would. "_Um, sure_," she stated. Her words were hesitant but her actions were not. She tossed the phone in the air as if such a thing were not breakable or damageable. Of course, I caught it but she ignored any motion I did make and placed both hands upon the steering wheel as she continued to drive to some unknown location beyond that of an older hotel.

"Pronto?" I greeted this unknown male vampire upon the phone within my native tongue. I was unsure of what to expect but I did see our little treasure's lips curl slightly into a smile as she choked back a laugh at my expense. I was about to smile back at the precious human lady when the voice upon the other end of the line did speak.

"_I don't care who you are but I will tell you who I am. I have lived through a century in the Southern Territories and survived. I have zero problem with using some of those same skills I learned in all those years of fighting on you if you even consider pulling a hair off her head, do you understand_?" Jasper informed me. The Southern territories were infamous the chaotic fighting over the human population of Mexico currently. The media did blame the massive amounts of murder and beheadings on such things as drug lords though those of us in the supernatural world knew far better.

Perhaps some of the death and destruction that reigned upon the humans in the central Americas was part of the illegal trade routes but most of it was due to an overzealous vampire or three that had not been careful about their kills. They killed openly and easily for who would go up against Santa Morte? The Volturi did nothing as long as the humans placed most of the blame upon their own kind and not to the true culprits.

If this Jasper had lived through the constant fighting for a hundred years, then he was either an excellent fighter or a commander if not both. Either way, he was instantly something to be feared for no one survived such destruction as that that occurs within the South without having killed many and having survived many attempts at being killed. Suddenly, I did not seem so dangerous to the little treasure if she did know of one that was a veteran of the South; for I was nothing more than a nomad upon this day and age. Even a veteran of the South, one who did survive the constant infighting and blood, and was now taken to the drastic change of a vegetarian diet, was one that was quite dangerous; far more so than myself. I was nothing more than a simple handgun to Elizabetta's life yet this Jasper was more of one of the modern machines such as a bomb or perhaps a tank. Yet, she knew him and did not seem fearful upon the phone.

"_I would never consider…_" I began hesitantly for I did wonder again at the relationship between this veteran of the vampire wars and my sweet savior. I would not harm her but would he?

Jasper interrupted me before I could even fully form another thought. "_If you do consider, even for a second, hurting her, we will know and I will come after you myself. I will rip your head from your shoulders with my bare hands, mount your head to the wall so you will no only see your burning remains and smell the smoke of your ashes, but you will see the pain and suffering you have inflicting upon our family by taking Elizabeth away from us. Is that clear_?" he asked this time in a very calm, smooth voice as the cold calculating killer he must have been and still was. There was but one answer I could give as the anger boiled in me at the thought of ever hurting Elizabetta.

"_I swear upon my existence, if I dare to harm the one that did save me, you may do with me as you like. I will not take her life_," I informed him, attempting to not raise my voice as I spoke to this Southern veteran. I did see Elizabetta raise her brow at me but I did pointedly ignore her, wishing not to scare her any further. If she did see my visage upon this moment, the anger that boiled beneath my skin at the idea of hurting her –the bloodlust was not gone but to hurt the one that saved me was to make me into a far worse monster than I had already become upon the many centuries since my death- I feared she would not longer feel any form of safety in being near me. I needed her to feel safe if only so that we way outrun the Guard and preserve her life. No one would take her life from her.

Jasper did not answer me immediately. Rather, I heard the feminine voice in the background again speak to him, stating that she did not see any harm befall Elizabetta by my hands. I was unsure of what to make of that but given what the same voice had stated earlier, I was curious as to the extant and exactly the scope of this female vampire's abilities. If she could see where my savior did head without knowledge of where Elizabetta did head herself, and she saw no harm befall my savior then was this woman a guardian angel? But when did angels mix with demons? Was it only out of the need to protect one so precious as our little treasure?

The male vampire upon the other side of the phone let out a breath before he spoke again. "_You will take care of her and make sure she comes back to us in perfect human condition. You will make sure she has everything she could need from a place to sleep at night that is safe and clean to a decent meal three times a day. You will make sure that the Guard do not get anywhere near her and that you will keep her safe until you can get her out to Washington State_," he informed me as if he did give me orders. There was a bit of irony in one who did fight for the blood now ordering to preserve it's very essence in this human lady.

"Si, claro. _I will burn myself before any harm comes to her_," I stated truthfully. I would fight to save my savior if it was needed. If it did mean that I would burn again then so be it if her life was preserved. All else meant very little if the one who did save me, a demon of the lowest from, from death did die herself.

Upon the periphery of my vision did I see a taken back look upon Elizabetta's face. I stated nothing as Jasper again spoke. "_Good. Hand the phone back to Elizabeth,_" he did stated. I held the black phone with pink strawberry stickers upon it up for Elizabetta's reach as she drove upon the highway westward.

"_He would like to speak to you again_," I did stated, worried now that this Jasper may scare my savior and ask her to run from me. I hoped the Guardian Angel the Cullen Clan did have would know that I was our little treasure's best protection from the Guard since no other could help without risking their very existence. My own was currently forfeit if the Guard did catch me so it meant very little; yet, what I did have, I owed to this human girl.

"_Jasper_?" she asked as she took the phone and yet also managed to turn the truck again. I watched in horror once more as she held the phone within her right hand, plugged it into the lighter socket with her left, and used both her knees this time upon the wheel in which to steer the car straightly. Or, rather, as straightly as she could upon a turn with neither hand upon the wheel. Even as a vampire, I had no such wish to cause harm to myself for to be so careless with the car that did hold violate explosives within the tank was to risk your existence. Of course, a vampire would not swerve the half an inch as she did until the phone again was corded.

"_Elizabeth, if he hurts you or threatens to hurt you, I want you to come this way instantly_," he began upon the other end of the phone as my savior, thankfully, took the wheel again with her left hand. What struck me as curious was that she began to smile as he spoke, as if she found this Jasper amusing in some way. "_Try to get away from him. Do you understand_?" Jasper did ask of her. His voice was still like that of a commander but his tone was more careful and non-threatening.

Elizabetta rolled her eyes upon Jasper's statements and quickly came with her own comeback. "_If he hurts me or threatens to hurt me, I'll just flame throw him_," she shrugged as she drove. I tried not to smile at the idea of this strange little human speaking to a Southern veteran in such a manner as well as my own knowledge that there was a great deal of truth in her statement.

"_I'm not joking, Elizabeth_," Jasper stated most emphatically upon Elizabetta's declaration.

Her face fell which made me instantly angry at this unknown vampire. How dare he cause the slightest hint of pain to the one whom he did decidedly state no pain should come to. Sighing, my little treasure did speak again. "_I know, Jasper_," she nearly whispered upon the cellular phone. She straightened her back prior to speaking again and this time her voice was rushed, hurried, as if some unknown horror did surround us. Checking, I did not see the Guard near us and doubt they would find us this quickly despite Demetri's ability.

"_Please, just give your wife a hug and tell her we'll have that shopping trip soon. Try to keep everyone focused on Victoria for now, please? I promise I'll be okay. I hate the idea of anyone worrying in the slightest over me_," she pleaded with him. If he did not accept my savior's pleas, if he did not placate her given our current situation, I would be the one to remove his head from his shoulders. He would cause her no more pain.

No statements or declarations, no orders or demands were given. Silence filled the other end of the phone as the male vampire did not speak. I watched Elizabetta's perfect red lips as she sucked the bottom one beneath her front teeth to bite upon as she waited in the silence. Her face became paler as we waited for his answer. What was it to him to focus upon someone named Victoria –friend or foe I knew not- as well as to hug his mate? Hardly a request that seemed unseemly in the slightest.

"_Alright, Elizabeth_," Jasper replied in defeat. He could not get the precious pet to return to her home as long as she feared the Guard; something I knew I had an advantage on.

"_And, please, tell Emmett that Ginsie misses him. I have a feelin' he'll like that_," she continued to inform him, as if she were the one to give orders; though her voice did faulter at the end. How many vampires did exist in this clan or was it multiple clans that did exist around this one human girl? Was she the power to bind us to each other? I knew of Carlisle, Edward, and this Esme from Edward many years ago. Three was large but not unheard of. Or, beyond this Jasper and his possible mate, was this Emmett human as well? Had the Cullens taken to having humans as part of this clan? And what was this Emmett to my Elizabetta?

"_I'll tell him_," Jasper replied to her gently but with sadness; most likely that his plan to have her come home had not worked and she would not endanger those that she loved. That she must know how dangerous this Jasper was and yet she still feared the Guard did at least allow me to know that Elizabetta understood the situation to be a grave one indeed. Of course, that did assume she knew of Jasper's origins or that he did tell me the truth upon the phone though I could think of no motive to lie about having fought or not fought within the Southern wars…

As my own eyes turned to Elizabetta, I saw her face become near ashen and her eyes start to tear again. Humans were so betrayed by what they felt without anyway to control their physical reactions to their emotions. I envied her in a way. "_Goodbye, Jasper_," she said softly before she pulled the phone from her ear and hit a single button to which all sounds from the other side of the line did cease. Again, she bit her lip but harder than when she had been talking upon the phone and it was clear that she was fighting back the tears once more as they threatened in her perfect green eyes.

I could not help but to think that the Cullen clan must mean to turn her. What other reason would you keep a human around but either as food in the future or to be turned at a later date, much as the Volturi do? She would loose her perfect green eyes for ones more brilliantly red than my own but she would have no fear of crying. It was clear it was something she feared; though whether it be of crying before me –a strange vampire of whom she had known but a few days or even hours- or whether it be of allowing to show the emotion of the depression she was in, I knew not but I was curious to discover this fear's cause.

If she was turned, her face would not turn that perfect pink as she became flushed with anger as I had already seen her do. The soft pink along her slightly jutted cheekbones accented beautifully with her already pale skin and dark locks. She was already beautiful. So the Cullens must have offered her immortality rather than beauty of which she has.

Immortality was not something that I would have chosen myself. To outlive your child and your child's children for generations to the point that you no longer know of each branch that did spring from your single seed was not something I would wish upon most. It had been my personal hell, my condemnation for my sins –to live and see all I did love die for I had killed one precious in the eyes of God. Then, to add to my sins, I must kill for my food and drink the blood of that which I came from. I became Death and Death would not take me.

If not beauty –for which she had- and not immortality –for who would wish to leave those they loved behind- then… The moment I thought upon it it struck me hard. Those that she loved were the Cullen clan. A group of immortal vampires had taken this young lady's heart. It was no lover or mother that called her upon not hearing from her nor did she call any other than a group of vampires. Perhaps she did not have anyone other than this clan in her life and that is what they offered her – a life with those that loved her. Did not even the Southern Veteran refer to their keep as her home?

"_You love them_," I did speak to Elizabetta as she drove ahead. Her mind was clearly distracted for it took her a moment to respond. She nodded, her mind still mostly elsewhere but it was clear in her soft green eyes how much she did love them as she replied, "_They are all I have here besides Miss Ginsie_."

My thoughts confirmed, that the Cullen clan was her family –a strange pick but I was not dealing with a normal human either and, given her talents for destroying our kind I do suppose that have a clan of vegetarian immortals as her own was far better than most alternatives. No one should be alone except the damned such as me.

Seeing her again fight the budding tears, I began to wonder what this strange human lady might having as her passing thoughts upon this drive to some unknown old hotel. I do suppose she must sleep and if she wished to do so at an older hotel that brought her comfort then I would have no objections. I would keep guard over her to make sure the Guard did not catch my frail savior.

Thinking upon the words that Jasper did speak onto me and still seeing the fight in Elizabetta's eyes, I spoke once more. "_They love you too_," I informed her. It had been clear in their worry that such a human as this Elizabetta did have a grip upon their hearts and minds. I fear the protective need I have over her –the need to hold her from all harm- but hope that once her life is safe and the Guard will bother her none more, that I may return to my wanderings of New York and leave her to the hands of those that love her and can protect her; though if they could not protect her from herself in this instance then would they be of much help in the future?

The little treasure's eyes blazed when I informed her of the clan's love for her. The soft green turned harder and deeper, like that of emeralds. Though her eyes were angry, the rest of her face was not and I knew not the cause of her anger. I began to smile a slight bit in apology for whatever offensive I may have committed for I wished no harm to come to her and felt saddened that such a comment as one of love regarding those that she did love would cause such rage in her. Was it only her fear that harm might come to them? As soon as she saw my sad little attempt at a wordless apology, Elizabetta turned her head back to the road before us and continued on our drive; her knuckles white as she held the steering wheel tightly.

Her lips puckered slightly as her jaw became set while the strange little human looked forward toward the road. She seemed to want to keep her anger, to hold on to it for I did see it falter in her eyes only to reflare again and again. Her eyes would narrow as she focused upon her anger and her jaw would flex slightly. She allowed for no softening in the ridgity of her muscles.

I began to question as to why the Cullen clan might fall for a human. What did they think of her? She was no pet, despite my earlier thoughts, and the worried tones were more of those of parents to a child or perhaps an older sibling to one that is younger. It was almost as if they saw her as something other than human. Perhaps, they did.

"_I think I can see why_," I added in thought as I raised my hand to my chin upon looking still as Elizabetta's visage. I wished to gauge her reaction and learn more about this strange creature that had a clan of vampires so enticed by her. "_It most certainly is not everyday that a human kills a vampire only to save another_," I teased lightly.

"_I didn't realize you were a vampire at the time_," she muttered as she drove though nearly all the anger she had been holding did leave her. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes began to soften.

However, it was more her words that interested me this time. So she hadn't known of what I was upon that night at first glance. She knew only of what Jane was and that the mind witch was hurting another. Though I doubt that my being a demon or not had little affect upon her judgment, still, I asked.

"_Would it have made a difference in your judgment?"_ I questioned with my deep curiosity seeping through in my tone. Again, I watched the emotions play upon her face. She pressed her lips together as she stared ahead at the road and I saw a hint of anger again flare in her eyes as she thought upon it. Her silence was clear; it was Jane she wished to destroy for Jane was the bringer of my destruction. She was Death for my kind and took a sick pleasure out of it but continuing the pain until she was tired of her game.

"_I did not think so_," I stated with a smile and did sit back against the leather seat as I awaited what I knew would happen next. Elizabetta's knuckles again turned white and her eyes turned a piercing green. If looks could kill then no one would be safe when this green eyed lady was turned into a monster like myself. What struck me as odd this time was how she gazed towards the center consul as if something she wanted was there before looking back at the road.

"_I could have cared less who Jane was attempting to dispose of. To quote Texas: She needed some killin'_," she stated angrily but only her lips moved. Her jaw stayed in its ridged state and did not flex as she spoke.

"_To that, I think you would find little argument_," I informed her. Jane had long amassed a reputation as a vampire to be feared along with her brother, Alec. The witch twins was one of the very long list of names and I had seen there abilities in tandem for myself many centuries ago. When I had been for a visit to Volterra, I had seen Jane use her ability at random, with nothing more than an annoyed look at this vampire or that. She used it as a spoilded child might use their power over all that served them. Thinking upon Volterra, I did modify my statement to Elizabetta. "_Outside of Volterra_, claro."

She nodded as the anger again fled her face though her body remained ridged as she drove. I was curious if this was the way our entire journey might be until I could formulate a plan to keep Elizabetta safe and have the Guard leave her alone. As long as they did not follow her, as long as they did not hurt her, all would be well. My own existence meant very little other than my new found distraction I had found in this strange human pet. And to that, I must thank Jane for in trying to kill me, she brought me a new fascination to which I think I may again have found a purpose in this existence –protect Elizabetta at all costs.

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A**uthor's Note:** Like it? Hate it? Please tell me!


	8. Chapter 8

La luce della Luna

**Disclaimer**: Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stephine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary**: The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's note**:I'm really hating the writer's block I have with this story. Elizabeth's POV was a thousand times easier to write than Gabriel's. I've been stuck at page five of this for nearly a month. It's only been in the past few days I've managed to get the rest of it down. I've written the last eight pages in the past 48 hours! Anyway, I really hope you like this one because Gabriel finally admits a couple of things to himself. :-)

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Chapter 8

_I live, I die, I burn, I drown_  
_I endure at once chill and cold_  
_Life is at once too soft and too hard_  
_I have sore troubles mingled with joys_

_Suddenly I laugh and at the same time cry_  
_And in pleasure many a grief endure_  
_My happiness wanes and yet it lasts unchanged_  
_All at once I dry up and grow green_

_Thus I suffer love's inconstancies_  
_And when I think the pain is most intense_  
_Without thinking, it is gone again._

_Then when I feel my joys certain_  
_And my hour of greatest delight arrived_  
_I find my pain beginning all over once again. -Louise Labe (1524-1566)_

Where she was headed, I knew only from the directions which were written in a lazy hand of purple ink; Elizabetta drove to a town called Dunkirk or so the last bit of instruction upon her pad of paper did say. I knew not of it other than it was upon the great lake of Erie and that it was within New York state's borders. I would ask more questions of her and of what we may do upon our destination. Even then, did I have questions for Demetri and Felix may find us at this hotel –Elizabetta most likely asleep- and kill us there. I did hope not for such a fate and would rely upon my hearing and my strength to forfeit any discovery by the Guard.

I did not speak much during the ride but rather focused upon the matter of the Guard as well as upon Elizabetta herself. The Guard were a problem that I knew not of how to handle. If it were nothing more than Felix and perhaps even Alec, Elizabetta and I could hide easily amongst the population of any city without fear. However, Demetri was known for his ability to track –amongst those that had crossed the Volturi, he was known as their hunting dog –it had been Alec and Jane that you feared once you were found. Now, Jane no longer existed and only her bother, the embodiment of ice as Jane was of fire, was left to cause much harm. Though strong, Felix I could defeat or escape with ease. He would never lay a hand upon the little treasure.

As I thought upon ways to defeat the Guard and yet not bring further troubles from the Volturi –a task that seemed to be impossible though in my many years had I learned that impossible was only something that had yet to be invented- I heard the songs upon Elizabetta's music player continue in their odd transition from one century to another. From big band music to that of my century to songs I have never heard before though they sounded quite modern, each waved through the stereo system within her vehicle. I would glance at the human lady as she drove only to see a small smile creep upon her face when yet another song I did not recognize played upon her stereo system as if it were some sort of unknown sport that she did play. I played little mind to it for unknown songs were hardly a worry given the Guard.

To kill one of the Guard was to only further bring their strength aginst you unless there was some way to rid us of Demetri and therefore, be able to hide with more ease. However, even then, did I truly wish for such a thing? For to destroy the Guard was to destroy our current way of life; who would govern us, keep the laws as they are currently written for our kind? To destroy the Guard was to create anarchy of the most blasphemous kind for none would be able to control the Southerners and perhaps even greater scourges that would be created in such a destructive wake. Such evil could I not have upon my hands and I would not ask of Elizabetta.

Yet, only but part of the Guard did follow us. To destroy Demetri alone would not cause the destruction I feared for allow but one or two vampires may hide from the Volturi, a group of newborns –wild with thirst and this new life- would not be so easily hidden. Jane was gone. If Alec, Demetri, and Felix also left this world then many others would take their place and protect the peace that allows us to live as we do –undetected by humans. I glanced to the lady beside me as I thought this and smirked slightly. Well, most humans.

The Volturi would never stop looking for us but if the knew not of whom to look for or they did not have one that could track us, then it would give me time to discover a better solution than the one I currently had –to destroy the contingent of the Guard that did come after us and to hide Elizabetta away forever. But then what life did that give Elizabetta? Did she even wish to become a vampire or to stay in her frail human form? Though we would run, I would hold to my word that I did give this Jasper and make sure that Elizabetta had a place to sleep each night and all the food her human body did need. I would protect her and find only the best accommodations for this little treasure for such as the one that did save me deserved no less.

As I thought upon the favorable and unfavorable ways in which to free ourselves of the tracker, Elizabetta pulled her truck into a gasoline station. Upon glancing at her dashboard, I noticed we were quite low upon the meter and was curious as to why she did not stop sooner. Quickly, my left hand reached for my wallet as I saw the sweet pet move to vacate the vehicle. It was not right to have a woman drive and much less a lady; I could not tolerate her paying for gasoline as well given it went against every grain of instinct in me. Women were to be provided for as they provided for the descendents and raised them in a proper fashion. Though I knew well the thinking was not as such anymore, I could not allow Elizabetta to spend her money when the expense was mine as well.

As I stepped out of the vehicle to pay what I did acknowledge as my share, I saw my savior upon the other side of the truck with but a bit of thick ribbon within one hand and a piece of folded black leather that I assumed to be her wallet despite the chains attached to it. I began to move towards her when I saw her entire body shake, showing off each inch of curvature in her perfect mold. It was something to be hold, the way her breast stood in that fraction of a second and the perfectly soft curve of her stomach as her legs stretched briefly in that bit of a shiver. I suppose it was cold to humans but I rarely noticed more than the extremes of the weather in the past five hundred years. I was curious as to why my savior did not grab her coat or a blanket upon stepping from her vehicle and into the cold thought I was glad for my own sake she did not. I did not wish for such a perfect body to be covered from my eyes.

I saw the lady before me cringe and I thought for a fraction of a second that she may have somehow heard my thoughts for it certainly was not the first time I had run into such an ability only the first time it would have occurred within a human. However, realizing that was not the case, I walked the other few steps before her. Elizabetta turned towards me sighing as if in defeat before her perfect green eyes became confused as she looked upon me; being of only five feet and eight inches in stature, she needed to look up in order to fully view my face and not my chin.

As I brought my folding purse betwixt us, I spoke unto my savior. "_I will take care of this,_" I informed her softly for a lady should not be forced to pay when a man is traveling with her. Confusion flashed through her perfect green eyes prior to my pulling of a credit card out of the piece of leather I kept as my purse. Upon her inspection of this piece of plastic, her brow knitted in more confusion and shock. The expression caused her mouth to pop open but a little, showing off her plump dark rose lips which complimented her pale skin perfectly. My own lips turned upward slightly into a smile as I began to laugh at her comical look. "What is it, little treasure?" I began to ask of her only to realize I was speaking in my native tongue. It was far to easy to forget such things as what language I was to speak in around the human lady who knew of the existence of vampires and yet saved one despite my grizzly deeds of the past. As quickly as I could, I covered myself and spoke once more in her native tongue. "_You look surprised_," I stated, amusement still in my voice.

To this, her reaction caused me confusion for her first reaction was to look down and not upon me. I did not comprehend this action though perhaps she did still have some of the natural fear of my kind that most humans seemed to have; though why only now it would appear, I knew not why. "_Ah jus',_" she began, her accent thick as her voice was whispered. "_Ah didn' think a nomad would exactly be able to have a credit card,_" she muttered as she gazed upon her shoes. Ah. I believe I understood her reaction now; she had become embarrassed due to her lack of understanding. I could not help but to allow a small chuckle escape at this strange human.

"_The luxury of living in such a city as one the size of New York is that you may easily get lost in the daily shuffle without a single second glance your way_," I began as she slowly raised her head to look at me with those questioning eyes once more. Noting her curiosity, I continued. "_The modern facilities of internet cafés and PO Boxes also help to keep a low profile but gather what I need to keep that lifestyle_," I stated as matter of factly as I could. It was true that the cafes had been a godsend for those that wished to live as I do –to stay within a large area undetected by the human menagerie that existed around us. With cellular phones now showing promise of having the ability to manage money upon them given their internet capabilities, I may never have to set foot within even a café again. Of course, there were reasons to sit calmly at a computer and work in such an environment; even vampires needed some socialization about them and I did not like to only blindly roam the streets with no place where I may sit and only places in which I would walk by until my next hunt for the criminals that polluted the human world. Such criminals were meaningless to vampires –they could not harm us- or so I believed until I met my avenging angel. Of course, she was no criminal despite what the Volturi may currently believe.

Frustration filled Elizabetta's tone as she spoke, "_But how do you pay for it?"_.

I smiled once more at her. "_Money is not a hard thing to come by_," I informed the human lady to which she did knit her brow once more. "_Given the electronic age, most of it is more an idea than actual currency anymore_," I informed her as I thought on the day trading I attempted for a few weeks but a few years ago. It had been an interesting experience but not one that I would attempt again. For any monetary needs, the simple funds I had invested upon the years since shortly after my arrival to this country were beyond sufficient. I needed no more than a card in order to pay for clothing when necessary as well as for gas for my motorcycle. Theft of such things was unnecessary and would draw too much attention to the areas where I liked to frequent.

Despite my answer, Elizabetta was not well pleased. Her eyes narrowed and her lips were pursed. There was little question that her icy stare did visit upon my visage was due to her not receiving an answer she wished for. I sighed and answered her as plainly as I could. "_Stock market_," I informed her which caused my little treasure to drop her angered look immediately.

"_Oh_," was all of her voice that graced my ears before she took her visage away from me by again returning her gaze to the ground. I could hear the sounds of the gasoline being pumped rather slowly into the vehicles around us and I recalled many times in which humans often referred to their vehicles as being hungry when require massive amounts of gasoline. Thinking upon the near empty tank, I thought upon the Southern vampire's words as well in that I must make sure our little treasure did eat. Gazing upon the structure of the gas station quickly, I saw other humans buy food for consumption and hoped that they would have something to satisfy my savior's hunger and thirst until such time as we could stop so that she may dine upon a proper meal.

I felt guilty once more for tearing this lady from her family and her life for to send such a creature into a store such as this was to send an angel into an abandoned house in which to rest; it was not befitting of her. But what else could we do at this moment as we fled the Guard? I took out what cash I had, unsure of how much human food cost outside the commercials I had seen upon the televisions and heard upon the radio. I believed that $40 should cover her needs for now.

As I held out the green currency to Elizabetta, she looked up at me with curious eyes once more as if she did not comprehend what the paper I held out for her meant. Never before had I seen a woman –human or vampire- not immediately take the money when I offered it.

"_Go inside_," I told her as I turned towards the metered pump. _ "Gather whatever food or other things that you are in need off_," I continued as I tried to consider what else she may need other than food for now. This evening she would need a place to sleep but did humans need more than that in their daily activities? A washroom was available inside the station, I believed but I was unsure of how frequent those needs were. "_I shall pay my part for the rather unorthodox rental of your vehicle_," I stated with a slight smile for the vehicle was hers though I do not think it would be wise to allow her to continue to drive it. If she did go inside the store, then I would be able to take over the driver's place easily since I had much doubt that the argument of a gentleman must always drive would work with this perfect lady.

As I began to pump the gasoline into her vehicle, Elizabetta muttered about gummy worms and paying for them herself which I did not totally comprehend but let her leave as she was in need of food and was in a foul disposition –possibly due to me given I did take her from her family though for her own safety and that she did not seem to like the money I offered.

I watched the little treasure as she did nearly stomp around her truck to open the back door where the sable fur eagerly awaited her mistress. I thought upon her not taking of the money offered and how she did not seem to like that I was paying for the gasoline of her vehicle. Never before had I been around a woman that did not like the monetary security I could offer. The vampire women I dated thought little of it other than a nice trinket now and then and to give them what baubles they may like. The human women, those black widows, money was their only motivation. However, my Elizabetta was nothing like those that killed their husbands to achieve monetary gain. The very idea of comparing her to those creatures made me angry at myself for she was as far above them as the seraphim were above the darkest of demons.

How interesting it seemed as my anger at myself waxed, her anger at me quickly ebbed but I could take no account into such a display for it was upon seeing her small pup that all anger left her face and features; her muscles relaxed and her eyes were no longer narrow as a small smile crept upon her face before placing a small kiss upon the flea fur's head. She placed a hooked and locked rope about the dog before standing back and gesturing to the animal to leave the vehicle. I was curious as to why the lady did not first take care of her needs –such as a washroom and any food- and wait upon the needs of the animal instead. Perhaps it was just her nature…

"_You do not like people buying things for you, do you_?" I asked of her as she looked up upon the sound of my voice. She shook her head slightly as me, gripping the leash of her sable fur.

"_I don't like other people thinking they need to take care of me_," she stated as if in clarification. Such an idea seemed a bit odd to me for I had lived through the era were women were to be taken care of and, as she was human and I a vampire, should the stronger not take care of the weaker? "_I have no problem with people buying things for me_," she did mutter as she turned, looking upon the thin piece of green land in this concert stretch.

I smiled as I took in her words. It was not the act of buying but the act of treating her as something weaker despite her human status. I do suppose a human that has killed a vampire was hardly weak and would demand an equal status in the order of things. "_Then think of this as a business arrangement_, my dear," I stated in an amused tone. If she did not wish to be taken care of, then I could present my need to take care of my savior, to act as a gentleman to a lady, in a way that she might not object to. "_I have need of someone who can dispatch of…unwanted creatures in surprising ways and you have need of gas money_," I told her as I held back a chuckle. I had seen her stop prior to paying for gas and saw the inside of her wallet. There was no more than a few hundred dollars in her possession and, from what I gathered from her Southern vampire, I doubt that she had much more funds that what was in that purse of hers. I knew my words to be true when she again looked upon me angrily before heading towards what was little more than a row of trees, her sable fur in tow.

My eyes continued to follow her as she pulled back to place her coat about her in the cool air of the day. I stopped myself from going over to help –as it was, it would look odd to many of the humans about to see me move so quickly and help the lady that I traveled with- and became curious about my need to help her once more. I could not understand completely this pull I had to help her, to want to take care of this strange human, and though I passed it off as only her being my savior earlier, I did doubt as much now.

I tried to think of any relationship that I had had in the past five hundred and twenty one years were such feelings as I had now were even comparable and I could think of none save one. I tried hard not to think upon that even in my darkest of moments for to think of my son was to overwhelm me with grief still. He, I loved.

Still, I could not help but to realize as I watched her, this protective feeling, this amusement at her small scowls, was similar to the way I felt regarding my only child. There were differences; things I could not yet find the way to place into words, but the relationship was the closest to what I currently feel towards Elizabetta.

I tried to place the thoughts of my beloved son, Francesco, far from me and to control the overwhelming grief that always accompanied my remembrance of him. The feelings I had towards my son were different than towards Elizabetta; in some ways drastically, but it was the only relationship that had any similarities in feelings to what I felt now. Although I lusted for both Elizabetta's blood and her body, my feelings for her were not like any I had had before for a woman; perhaps that was because Elizabetta was my savior and needed to be protected from my kind despite her skills at killing us.

She had killed but one vampire and yet the entire Volturi now come down to bear upon us. If it had been any other vampire that she killed save Jane, perhaps a nomad such as myself, none would think twice upon it other than as some curiosity. Her life would not be in the danger it is now. However, if it had been any other than Jane, I would not have met her for no other could allow you to feel the burn that we all had suffered.

It was the soft growl and the whispered jubilation of "_good girl_" that brought me out of my thoughts. Too soon did the gas fill the tank for the little treasure to entire into the marketplace behind us. I saw her look longingly towards it, biting her lower plump lip as she turned her head to gaze back at me. I gestured with my head towards the store whilst I placed the nozzle back upon the meter. "_Go, I'll wait,_" I informed her in hopes that my savior would take what she did need from this ill fitting place. It may look odd at a restaurant for one not to eat but it would be far better a place for my Elizabetta. Such plebian fodder was not the food that my savior should partake in.

Quickly, she left both myself and her pup with the truck. I saw a smile grace her lips again once before she had done as much as take but a step within the store. Seeing my chance, given her clear distraction, I entered into her vehicle, and took my rightful place as its driver. I looked over the controls which were basic enough and common enough to any vehicle that I had seen; though the last car I had driven had been a manual drive and not automatic. I was unsure if they did make such cars anymore.

The keys had she left earlier within the vehicle; I suppose such was a logical decision given that none would steal her vehicle from her as I did stay with it. Her pup may even be able to cause fear in some thieves if the sable did have a loud bark and the thief were blind. I could not see none but the weakest of humans being afraid of the powder puff that didst still growl at me, more harshly now, as I sat upon her mistress' seat.

I looked upon the sable fur and raised a questioning eyebrow to it. The pup, rather than backing off as I had seen many but the most menacing of animals do, stepped up to the center compartment and openly snapped at me before managing to wedge herself forward. I found this curious and was taken back by this fearless flea fur's aggression. I had once seen a pocket dog act in this manner but such an animal did turn upon its owner as well. This creature was gentle about her mistress.

I thought upon how I had seen Elizabetta react around her fearless pup and thought that, perhaps, though this creature be of little more than fur, that speaking unto it in a soothing voice may work. "_I have no wish to harm your mistress,_" I informed the flea fur and did feel ridiculous for doing so until the growling stopped. The flea fur cocked her head at me in a curious manner before retaking up her hobby of lowly growling –not quite as ferociously as before.

Though I did not take to the notion that animals had souls or any sort of reasoning about them, it was hard to argue with such when the creature before me did quite her growls to almost their previous volume. As absurd as it may seem, I thought to further calm this powder puff beast. "_Your mistress is being hunted by others of my kind and they will hurt her if they find her. I will do all that is in my power stop them_," I stated as much for my own sake as that of the flea fur. The creature bore her teeth but stepped back to the backseat where she sat with the large amount of things that this truck did hold. I believe that Elizabetta must have been planning to go back to this Forks with Esme along with all of her belongings for little space was there towards the rear of the vehicle. It shall make backing up an interesting challenge.

Elizabetta returned with a plastic bag filled with various items. I could not tell as to what when my savior stopped and glared at me. With a fierce fire within her green eyes, she opened the door but did not enter the vehicle. Rather, she dropped the bag of food upon the floor. Glancing in it, I was curious as to what humans did eat these days; it seems to be of little more the corn syrup and sugar, with only an apple of any food that I did recall upon my human days.

"_What do you think you are doing_?" she asked of me. I glance back up at my avenging angel.

"_You eat that_?" I asked her, truly curious as to what was considered food for I would have need to buy as such for her again and I would like to know what to buy. Rather than answer, her hands were placed upon her hips and her eyes glared at me as if she could pierce through me with but a single glance.

"_Why are you in my seat_?" she asked, her accent forcing the "_Why_" to be drawn out.

Relying upon my earlier logic and my knowledge that this lady would not take gently to any argument that declared driving to be a man's duty, I declared, "_You stated earlier that you are not my driver_." Her hands did not move from her volumptous hips, showing off her smaller in proportion waist. I attempted not to look so as to not to continue to think of she who saved me in the same terms as any of the courtesans I have been with in the past.

"_So, rather than allowing you to drive the entire way, I believe it to be better if I took the wheel from now on. It is only what is right, after all_," I continued to inform her. I did hope this argument, that I would drive given she provide the vehicle, would win her over.

"_Is this a critique on my driving skills_?" she did mutter, moving her arms so that they crossed upon her bossum.

"_No, not at all. I love the thrill of feeling nearly mortal when I see you using your knees to drive a two ton vehicle_," I stated in a manner that was far less than what any man should use upon a lady; though true as it was. Upon seeing her use her knees upon the steering wheel whilst she plugged in her phone to the cigarette lighter did cause a great deal of fear within me. Though such fear was more reserved for her mortal existence and less for my immortal one. "_Now, get in and we can be on our way_," I told her as my thoughts flickered to the Guard. I had little way of knowing if they were close or had yet to even leave the city of New York.

She was quite for but a moment before Elizabetta looked into my own eyes, her expression more protected that fierce. _"If you get one scratch on my baby I will turn you into charcoal and use your ashes for soap, is that clear_?" she demanded of me.

The thought of ashes brought the Guard again to the forefront of my mind. She had turned Jane to ashes; the only human I have heard of that has been able to do so. "_It is rather odd that, despite your being human, I believe that may be an actual threat_," I told her, hoping my tone was more polite to this lady.

I watched as Elizabetta pulled herself in to the passenger side of the vehicle and closed the truck's door. Quickly, I turned the truck's key –which was upon a long kaleidoscope of key chains and keys with a bit of cotton ribbon that had strawberries upon it-, I rolled my own window down part way so that no temptation would I have of this precious lady's blood.

I would not drink from her. None would destroy her. These were the thoughts I repeated in my head as images of the Volturi flowed through my thoughts; both of the family as I knew them many years ago and as I saw Demetri but the other day. There must be a way to stop them without causing further wrath upon ourselves. Though, if only there was some way to destroy the tracker then I could hide this little treasure easily and have her life a more normal life than this running.

A sigh broke through my thoughts though I did not look to the owner of it. "_Do I need to roll the windows down again_?" I heard Elizabetta state in a disgruntled manner. I stole but a glance at the dear human whom I wished to protect. She had managed to fold her jean covered legs beneath herself and lean against the window of the passenger side, whilst her arms were folded about her chest. It was a sign of being resigned to ones fate with great displeasure. I doubted that this could be only over my taking of the driver's place and felt a source of pain that it might be due to my taking her from her family as well.

"_No_," I told her gently as I returned my eyes toward the road. "_As long as I have the window next to me rolled partly down and the heat is blowing your scent away from me, I am well_," I continued for I did not wish to keep anything from her; there was little point when she knew what we were and to do so clearly made her upset.

Her position shifted and the scent of her blood filled the truck for a moment but I managed to control my inner demon. If we were to travel like this, I do suppose I should hunt more often than upon a fortnight. I did not think any animal would be savory to my tongue but if it would protect my savior from the disgusting creature I was, then so be it. I felt her eyes upon me as I thought in regards to how I was to leave her if I were to hunt. I could not let my Guard down if the Guard were to come after us both. Perhaps within a crowded shopping mall for a few hours with strict instructions to not have less then ten people in her eye sight at all times.

"_Then what is it_?" she asked of me.

I did not understand her question for I did not comprehend what _it_ was. "_What is what_?" I replied, my eyes looking into hers to see if I could somehow discern how her thoughts worked.

"_Eyes on the road, please_," I she said quickly though politely. I attempted not to laugh though a half chuckle had escaped; for a vampire had no need of looking straight ahead –besides the perfect eyesight, we did have far faster reflexes. Despite this, I was to make my savior comfortable and if looking forward would help, then so be it.

"_You looked in pain_," her voice stated softly. Again, I noticed as she bit her lip. Before I could form a full thought upon why such a creature would worry upon myself she added, "_And I don't want my steering wheel to take the brunt of anything_."

Ah, so she thought I was in pain. Though her claims of fear over her steering wheel were stated, they were clearly half hearted at best. Though her worry may not be specifically over me –for this creature who did stumble upon my form did seem to have some love for all of creation- it was worry nonetheless. I could not help but smile at her compassion in her actions even if her words did not match as such.

Shaking my head as I spoke to alleviate any worries she might have, I answered. "_No_, little treasure," I began. I thought upon whether o hold back upon what my thoughts truly were for but a moment before recalling the scene at the gas station but moments before. No, to hold back any information from her was unjust in her eyes. "_I was but planning out how to deal with the guards and I am unsure of any way to do so_."

"_Oh_," was her simple response. Her arms had relinquished their hold upon her bossum as she had been speaking and not her hands had dropped to her lap. She looked upon them now in thought as I looked forward in such. The Guard were a problem that I could not solve!

Whether is be wiser to take out the hunter of the Guard or to continue to run-but to where!- was the question that had no answer. All options held their merits and their faults to which the faults did currently outweigh the merits by a great deal. No matter what option I thought, there was a chance of death that I thought to risky for my angel. She should not suffer for my sins.

Again did the cellular phone that Elizabetta owned play the music that indicated yet another call. It was from her vegetarian vampires, I had no doubt given that she had confided in me that they were all she had in this world beyond the flea fur. How many of that clan were vampires and how many were human was not something I had worked out as of yet. I suppose I shall discover with time.

My savior sighed as if depressed before answering her telephone. The sound I heard upon the other side of the line was not what I was expecting for it was high pitched and quite loud though clearly a person. Quickly, upon this triumphant noise, followed the strange woman's voice I had heard in the background earlier. "_It will work! But you need to be careful and then you can come out here and come home_," the woman said who I knew not if she were vampire or angel but her voice was to clear to be human.

A hint of a smile graced Elizabetta's alabaster and deep rouge face. "_Hello to you too, Alice_," she stated, showing her clear like for this Alice creature but also how the day had already taken its toll upon her. It was a toll I placed upon her and I wished to allow this woman some rest, some how.

Shifting my thoughts, I was curious as to what would work and, again, how this Alice creature did know of any event that had yet to take place. Was she the witch or a prophetess? It did not escape me the emphasis that this creature placed upon the word _home_ when speaking unto my savior. She had no more liking of Elizabetta being apart from this place called Forks than the vampire men had held earlier. What was this creature to whom Elizabetta spoke and what could she do?

"_I can't see when you will do it exactly_," stated this women creature, her voice sounding annoyed upon stating _when_. "_It looks like it still might be a month away_," she continued with sadness creeping into her now softer tone. Again, my thoughts travelled to how this creature must wish for Elizabetta to join her and the vampires within Forks. "_But it will work and it will be the only way that I see everyone being okay_." These words caused me much through for two reasons; for she did sound joyful once more –this women creature that I thought perhaps angel or prophetess- but also for her statement of _everyone_. Did this strange seerer foresee that Elizabetta would be well as no longer hunted by the Guard? What of myself? What powers did this strange creature truly have?

"_Everyone_?" my savior questioned as her eyebrow raised above her right eye into a dark arch. Was she questioning about me or about something else entirely? Too many questions I had and little in the way of answers.

"_You know what I mean_," this creature spoke back to Elizabetta. My savior but smiled as if she knew this was the reaction this Alice would have unto her words. "_Carlisle won't like it but he won't mind too much if it means getting you back in one piece_," Alice continued. I saw the smile quickly wiped from Elizabetta's face. When the father vampire's disappoint was mentioned, Elizabeth's face turned sorrowful.

"_And what about the Volturi themselves_?" she asked of this Alice creature. This was, of course, the most key question. If Elizabetta was safe and the Volturi were no longer a threat, then all would be well.

"_I don't know yet but I don't think anything too bad will come out of this. Your future is shaping up more and more now, Elizabeth_," Alice informed her to pacify the human lady.

A hint of a smile played again upon Elizabetta's deep pink lips and her eyes held a hint of mischief about them before she spoke once more. "_Great, so you can tell me when I get to win the lotto and live somewhere up in the mountains in a big house with stained glass windows_?" she asked. My mind was immediately populated with images of a house as if from my time with large windows of colored glass. Various images played out upon the windows to represent various stories, just as they might in my time, with a house of stone and thatch. So Elizabetta enjoyed the mountains… As for the lotto, if she was want of money, I would give her what I could for now and I am sure her family had reserves similar to my own –though I would need to find ways to pay in which she did not have the ability to pay first for she had shown she was a stubborn and independent creature.

"_I'm not going to tell you because you'll just mess it up_," Alice stated in a haughty matter though it fazed Elizabetta not. "_But I will tell you that you will be happy someday, Elizabeth. I promise you that much_," the witch woman continued. I did not understand the statement for was Elizabetta not happy before? I knew her reasons –well!- for not being of a more content state currently for what human could be happy with a true demon at the wheel, but was this melancholy a chronic state?

I stole a glance towards my savior; curious as to if this manner in which she conducted herself was her normal state and not one of reaction to my taking of her from her family, to see her straighten up a bit. The tenseness in her jaw that had been a near constant since I opened the passenger side door and told her to drive vanished once Alice informed Elizabetta that she would be happy someday. However, the largest change was in her green eyes that seemed to relax and again look more as if green fields after a gentle rain than the hard emerald of earlier. I knew not what to think other than I wished to make her happy for in current state, she looked even far more beautiful than she had before.

"_Thank you_," Elizabetta breathed upon the cellular phone.

"_You are welcome_," Alice began. "_Don't forget, I'm keeping my eye on you and on you too Gabriel,_" she informed us both to which I smiled. The witch must be gazing through her crystal ball a great deal if she is watching us both. Would she see if the Guard were coming or if I were any danger to Elizabetta? Earlier the same creature had ensured Elizabetta's safety but was not the future constantly changing?

"_Love you too, Alice_," our little treasure told this Alice creature with a smile.

"_Love you too, Elizabeth_," Alice stated before shutting off the line upon the telephone.

Elizabetta became quite once more and began to curl up in the passenger seat. I thought upon getting her a blanket for she seemed to be cold and given that I did have the window rolled but half way down upon my side, it may very well be the case. I paid little attention to the temperature for, in being as stone, I was neither hot nor cold until the extremes of each touched my skin.

The closer we were towards the destination written upon the pad of paper which I held, the more the tenseness in Elizabetta's jaw returned, the more she curled in on herself in the passenger side seat, and the quieter the sable furs growls became. Although I did appreciate the view of the curvature of Elizabetta's body as she slowly moved, I did not think much upon it for her expression once again became one of sadness. As I considered breaking her from her quiet thoughts, I noticed her uncurl and go to retrieve come items from the bag which she received at the gas station.

In an attempt to keep her from returning to her melancholy thoughts, I spoke. "_Am I to follow the directions here_?" I asked though I did think she would speak if she had no wish to follow the directions. Elizabetta was quite able to make her wishes known.

She took but a sip of her drink prior to answering my question with a nod. "_Yeah, it should lead you to what was my Aunt Angie's, I think_," she informed me. In using the past tense to describe our desired end point, I wondered why she would wish to go to someplace that no longer belonged to her family. Had she not said earlier that the Cullen's were all she had left in this world?

Quickly, she sat up a bit more and her eyes became more focused. "_Actually, let's just head up Central Ave instead_," she informed me. I glanced over at her in an questioning manner. To which place did she have want of going?

I regretted my decision to look upon her for my glance caused Elizabetta to hunch her shoulder's once more and she began to curl in upon herself. "_I just want to see if something is still there_," she whispered.

As she sipped her tea, I thought carefully upon her words. Perhaps she was not close to these relatives and it was but that she saw the Cullen clan as her immediate family and the kin she wished to see here were more strangers than kith and kin. "_Still there_?" I questioned. Once Elizabetta's eyes met my own, I gave her a small smile though my curiousity over this human lady and her words overruled much. "_How long has it been since you have visited your relatives? And do you not care if the guards descend upon them as well_?" I more stated than asked for I began to think that in her current disposition she may have forgotten about why we were running. Human minds seem to have little room for more than one strong thought at a time.

The grimace that came across Elizabetta's face told me she had not remembered the Guard. Perhaps if we turn around now, Demetri would not track us to this area and would have no knowledge that anyone dear to my little treasure lived within this town.

"_I'm not even sure if they are there_," was not the answer I expected from my savior. As she whispered it, she had turned back into the small ball of earlier and gazed out of the window, no longer allowing me to look upon her visage directly.

The words she used made clear now why the past tense was used. She had no knowledge if her Aunt still lived within the town or any other kin. It was not the Guard that was causing her to be nervous as I saw her but, once again, the unknown. I knew that Elizabetta would not let the unknown escape her and this was her way of discovering answers.

I felt at odds with myself. I wished to constantly know more of the human lady and I found myself wishing to help her a great deal. My thoughts once more returned to the feelings I felt towards my savior and I knew not how to explain them. The only other person I had ever loved…

I stopped myself quickly. Love? Was this what I felt towards this human lady? Could a vampire feel love to a human that they did not love prior to becoming this demon creature? The Cullen clan most certainly did but I was unsure of myself. Did I love her?

Putting such thoughts from my head, I looked to the lady next to me. The sadness in her eyes made me feel pain within myself. I did not understand it but wished to do anything to alleviate it. Gently as I could, I placed my hand upon her arm to which caused Elizabetta's eyes once again to look upon my own. "_Do you mind asking me what occurred_?" I asked softly. If she had no wish to tell me, I would not press the matter.

I slowly let my hand grace it's way down her arm, softly dropping from it at the elbow. The skin beneath her long sleeved shirt was warm and the radiant heat I could feel felt welcomed against my stone skinned hand. However, I did not wish to startle her much – it was more my instinct to drop my hand than any action of hers- for normally humans shy away from our touch. Elizabetta did not.

Rather, she shook her head prior to speaking. Once more, she looked upon her own hands in her lap –I noticed now she does that when she is pensive or fearful of another's reaction-, "_On March 19th I found myself suddenly__**here**_." I did not understand her emphasis upon the word _here_ nor the date for March 19th had elapsed but a few weeks ago. It was only the start of April now. I continued to watch my savior as she worked out her words to explain.

_"It had been March 19th 2009_ _when I left my house in Maryland_," her words said though I did not comprehend them. It was the year of our Lord two thousand and six, not nine. Did she truly believe herself to be a time traveler? If so, then my earlier thoughts regarding her sanity were verified. If not, then what sport is it to talk of such concepts in the impossible? "_When I got to Ithaca, it was 2006_," her whispered voice informed me. Yes, insane. It was the only logically conclusion of which I could draw for no sane human could slay a vampire, save yet another, and be in the company of many without fear. No human that was not touched in the head could sit here this calmly, this sullenly, near a vampire and weave such a tale without showing some signs of deception. There was none in her heartbeat or in her movements.

"_2009_?" I asked of her in a hold of hope that this be but sport. If it was, then the normal reaction would be to smile and nod, to continue on with the lie to see how far she might go with it. Of course, my gauge for normal reactions were women who killed their husbands and lured new ones in for nothing more than financial gain. Elizabetta's reaction was, of course, different. She moved her shoulders up and down in a shrugging motion without moving her eyes from her conjoined hands.

Perhaps merely asking the year was the wrong way to go about the questioning of her sanity or her lies. If she were from 2009, she would have some evidence of it. In three years, there must be a newspaper or something else that would give credence to her claim. Once she showed she had none, I would call her upon it. Although it is often said to not show the insane that their claims are but delusions, which is often for the health of other humans –not vampires. I could protect her from herself.

"_Do you have any proof of this claim_?" I questioned. Without so much as a breath, Elizabetta moved to look at the center consul and then pick up a silver telephone object from the cupholder that existed in front of it. I had seen the two other phones but thought little of them since it was becoming more common for many people in New York to have a phone for pleasure and one for business. Her eyes only met mine when she handed the silver telephone –a blackberry- over to myself.

"_This doesn't exist yet_," she informed me in a very matter of factly way. I flipped it back and forth, examining the keys and the strange little ball towards the center of the phone. I have seen many carry such as this on their daily comings and goings in the city of New York.

As gently as I could, I spoke unto her, "_It's a Blackberry. They are new, but they exist_." She shook her head in defiance. As I prepared to hold her back from any hysterics that may be brought on by confronting reality –why had the Cullen clan not done so?- Elizabetta spoke again.

"_No, the world edition doesn't exist_," she said in a manner that showed me she was not upset, only frustrated. She would not go into hysterics as of yet. "_It also doesn't work and neither does my other phone…or the XM radio_," she continued to inform me. I thought upon ways that might work to convince her of the lunacy in her claims but also realized that perhaps the Cullen clan had already tried and thought that it was better to have her believe that she was supernatural within herself then to cure one that is not of harm to any. Although, perhaps she was supernatural due to her delusions given she was a vampire slayer now.

Glancing to the small pink device that Elizabetta had plugged into her vehicle's stereo, she smiled a bit. It was that same near triumphant smile that she had upon when she knew she would win the argument over my adopting a vegetarian lifestyle. For her sake, always for her sake. "_And I'm not sure how much you listen to the radio but I'm sure you've noticed a lot my songs aren't ones you've heard before_," my savior stated in a manner that informed me she knew herself to be right.

I could not help but frown for it was true that I did not recognize a great deal of the songs upon her small portable stereo. However, I was not one to listen to music of this age a great deal either; only what I heard upon the streets of New York. It was very possible that the songs were unknown to me simply because of my lack of listening to the modern music. "_Look up the lyrics on the internet if you still don't believe me. You won't find probably half the songs that have been playing_," she stated in defiance.

I knew not how to argue with her without a base of information. Perhaps if I sidestep the question of her sanity altogether and brought to the forefront another problem. "_Alright,_" I began. It was amusing to see her cock her head to the side as she awaited my question._ "Assuming you are telling the truth, then would it not be dangerous to see those from your past_?" I pointed out. Again, she shook her head to answer in the negative.

"_There have been_…," she began before once more playing with her hands. I waited while she searched for her words. "_Other things that make me think that I'm not only back in time but not in the same_…_timeline I guess_, _that I came from_," my savior fumbled upon her words. Again the sadness crept into her visage and her entire body. I doubted she even knew how visible it was.

I considered many things. If she was insane, then what? I recall this Carlisle being a doctor and could he not help her or know of whom to give her help? Though perhaps it would be more dangerous to her than beneficial for she knew of us and knew of us well. To send her to some human doctor would not do her justice. It would only be due to God that this strange little angel had found out about us. Of course, it was only fate's cruel joke once more that I should fall for one that was touched…

I smirked upon my own thoughts and felt Elizabetta's eyes on me instantly. It mattered not that she believed herself to be from another time or another place. If this were to be the extant of her delusions –perhaps a way to help her mind cope with being around vampires- then so be it.

As we entered the exit ramp as her instructions stated, my little treasure moved to take out money for the toll that we were to pay. I would find a way to slip the money back to her later for she had no reason to waste her money upon such little matters.

The toll operator had the normal reaction to my kind. As I placed the money in her hand, she moved back away from the window and looked as if she was fighting with herself to keep her hand outstretched. I smiled as kindly as I could when I heard Elizabetta's breathing patterns change. Once we moved past the toll, her breaths became shallower and her heartbeat quickened. Perhaps this was not the best to take her into this town which holds memories for her.

I more heard than saw even the sable fur get up from her spot in the backseat. So this was a place known to both of them. This Ginsie pup, when I stole a glance to her, was looking out of the window expectantly. Yes, this was a place they both knew and well.

Down the street we traveled and I saw Elizabetta's eyes look towards what were nothing more than trees and torn up concrete. It was as if she expected something quite different. I was worried for her sake. Her heartbeat was growing louder and I fought with myself as the demon wished only to sample that luscious sound. The demon in me sickened myself and I shut him off with not breathing in her sweet scent. Though the directions told me to turn right at the end of the street we were currently on, Elizabetta voiced as such herself.

My savior's entire body turned into a twist as she moved to gaze upon her sable pup. I only thought upon what would occur if she did not see what she wished to see. Would she go into hysterics then? Elizabetta said something in regards to a hotel –was this what she wished to view? What if someone other than the people she expected to be there were there? I was unsure of how to handle a situation such at this.

When she returned to a proper position in her seat, Elizabetta looked out the windows once more. Her heartbeat slowed and her breathing became more even as we entered the town. The houses that sprung up upon either side the road looked to be from the late 19th century; perhaps as old as my years within this country, and many in disrepair. Holes in the roofing or tender boards upon the porches –many of the homes had not seen occupants in many years.

The road signs were either non-existent or too overgrown and faded for even a vampire to read. Still, I tried though I do not think what Elizabetta was looking for was the same as on the directions. I knew we were upon the Central Avenue as she had requested earlier. Still, given the silence that had been in the car, her sudden exclamation of "_Stop_!" brought out an instinct to hit the brakes immediately. The flea fur tumbled from her watch upon her window. I heard nothing crack nor break but was still relieved that, upon Elizabetta's inspection, Ginsie was assured to be fine. I offered a small smile in apology for stepping too quickly upon the breaks.

Rather than grumble at me as I had grown use to over the past few hours, my savior turned her head and tried to lift herself in such a way as if there was something she was expecting upon the hill. "_Left. Turn left_," she instructed. I did so and also turned to where she had been looking; it was an old much overgrown gravel driveway.

I was startled when my savior jumped out of the truck. Though I was going quite slow, I still did not believe that to be a safe exercise for a human. As quickly as I could, I parked the vehicle and shut the truck off to go after the human lady. She had run around the dilapidated concrete building –perhaps it was no older than she was yet had not been used in the time since it was built- and I was to follow her.

To say the area at which we were stopped was overgrown was truly a misuse of the word. The fence was rusted and the weeds grew tall along the edges of the gravel and wherever else they could. I listened for any other heartbeats or sounds of others rather than my savior and her pup. There was silence outside of a few rodents and other small creatures who stayed well out of the way of one such as me.

Where were the humans? I strained my ears and heard only a few voices far off and to the west of where we currently were. Even then, I could only hear them when the breeze had shifted to carry them as such. Was this yet another town that had fallen when the factories left the Great Lakes area. I had heard of many. Still, was this the place my little treasure thought her family would be? Her accent was not of this place but I knew that meant little. Families can live anywhere in this great expanse of land known as the United States.

Knowing that in a place such as this, it may be too dangerous for my savior, I followed her at my own pace which was far quicker than hers. There were no humans about to see that did not already know of what I was. Her body shook when I saw her. She was standing before a great amount of ruins that looked to have been some sort of large house at one time. No sound escaped her but I could see her knees about to give so I grasped her about her lower rips to hold her tight and straight.

I feared holding her too close, that the demon in me would want her blood too much but what last vestiges of being gentlemen and lord –long I thought both to be dead- demanded I hold her as the tears fell freely from her eyes. She should not be alone in this grief she was displaying. Was this the hotel?

"_Shh_," I attempted to calm her as her body shook but no sound did she make. I did not know what to think of the cause of her crying other than this was not what she expected to see at this location. I knew she would be safe and warm –my cold skin could not feel welcome in this weather when she had not a coat about her- within her truck. "_Let's go back to the truck and I'll drive you anywhere you want_, my dear," I whispered towards her. I would drive wherever else she would want. We needed to get away from here and from the Guard. Even if the place to which she wished to go was known for the sun, I would take her. I would need to invest in a different vehicle or get a better tint upon her windshield if that were to be the case though. She said nothing but seemed to be attempting to calm herself only to find it impossible.

"_This place is not good for you. You do not need to see this_, little treasure," I tried to convince her. This was not a good place for her. The life she thought she had did not exist here if it ever existed. Her delusions had drugged her to this point only to be shown that what she thought was real wasn't. However, it was curious that she knew where to go, what to see. This clearly could have been a hotel at some point many years ago and had not the Alice creature said a railhouse? The railroad, long since abandoned was perched upon an embankment to the side of the collapsed home. How could she have known where to drive, of what to look for, if there was not some bit of reality in her insanity?

Upon my spoken words, Elizabetta only mutely nodded to me. Carefully, I supported her, my arm about her waist to make sure she did not fall. As dreary as the scene must be, I felt sick at myself for feeling any joy in this context. For this creature was near me and I could not help but feel pleasure at having such a beauty this close.

Such pleasure was short lived for my mind went from its lustful thoughts in regards to her body to the sadness I felt for her grief. I knew not how to help her through this. I had no recourse for this and could only think of how I treated my son when I was still human upon the days when he was grieved. I nearly lifted Elizabetta myself into her vehicle and made sure that the human lady was strapped in tightly. Her sable fur growled lightly at me but quickly stopped when she gauged her mistress's distress. Rather, the small pup placed her paws upon the center consul as I got in and nudged her mistress' arm to no avail.

When I turned the key to drive away from here, the pup looked to me for explanation and I only shook my head at the creature. For even I did not know what we could do for her now.

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**Author's Note:** Review, please?


	9. Chapter 9

La luce della Luna

**Disclaimer**: Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stephine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary**: The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's note**:My only defense is that this is 21 pages long on Word and that Gabriel didn't start speaking again to me until about two or three weeks ago. Chele, by the time you messaged me, it was about three days before that Gabriel decided he wanted to "talk" and I got six pages done.

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Chapter 9

_First,_

_the sky and the earth and the flowing fields of the sea,_

_the shining orb of the moon and the Titan sun, the stars:_

_an inner spirit feeds them, coursing through all their limbs,_

_mind stirs the mass and their fusion brings the world to birth._

_From their union springs the human race and the wild beasts,_

_the winged lives of birds and the wondrous monsters bred_

_below the glistening surface of the sea. The seeds of life—_

_fiery is their force, divine their birth, but they_

_are weighed down by the bodies' ills or dulled_

_by earthly limbs and flesh that's born for death._

_That is the source of all men's fears and longings,_

_joys and sorrows, nor can they see the heavens' light,_

_shut up in the body's tomb, a prison dark and deep._

_-Virgil_

I knew not what to do. Granted, I had been in similar situations before with other human women but during those times would I feast upon them or leave them as the whores they were. Those women meant very little more than a toy or food to me; perhaps both in some cases. To have a human lady sit beside me as quiet and as still as the air itself, a lady who was a lady in her own right, on who was not of lust, greed, or some other sin but of something else that I could not name; I knew not how to react, how to comfort, how to console.

I watched her more than I watched the road for she but traced invisible lines with her finger as I darted down the highway. I could see the reflection of her green eyes in the glass and saw the far away look. She was here but physically and her mind was elsewhere. She was in one of the phases of hysteria.

I attempted to recall the old books and pamphlets of the by-gone era in which hysteria was considered common place and something many a young woman might suffer from. Such things did not occur in today's world, or so they claimed, and yet here sat but a beautiful young lady nearly as still as one of my kind; surrounded in her human form and her mind gone.

Did I attempt to speak to her or would that set her off once more? She did not seem to like being caught crying –the most violate phase of hysteria- so if it did, it may not last long and only bring her back to this shell of a lady near me. I wished to reach for her, hold her, perhaps even lie and state that all was well though I knew that not to be the case. Perhaps then, this was for the best –her mind had caught up to the truth of the deadly situation we now found ourselves in but…

Had not her mind –as insane as she might be- allowed her to sit her near me and not be terrified of the world's nightmarish predator I am? In destroying her illusion –that that small town from which we just left was somehow connected to her past- had that destroyed the lady as well? When she came out of her hysteria, would she see me for what I was and would she come out of it at all? Perhaps if I did take her back to the Cullen clan…

No. I had seen Elizabetta's eyes when she spoke with the Cullens earlier in the day. Her voice gave only a small hint of the betrayal that her eyes gave freely. She loved them and would not have the Guard after them in any way. They loved her as well and cared not about the Guard –only of her. I heard it in their voices and in their declarations regarding her. Even the Southern General held a great deal of love for this human lady for why else would he so coolly explain how he wished to murder me if I dared to harm this precious pet? It was out of love.

Again I questioned my own feelings for this human for I knew not what to think of her. I did know better than to think upon her smell much for it was divine both in the hunger it induced in me as well as the beauty of it for itself. Of course, there were other hungers she was inducing as well. Perhaps she was a witch after all.

I warred with myself; should I or should I not attempt to break her from her comatose state in which she currently was? For did nothing more than breath softly against the window and wave her finger back and forth upon the glass as if outlining the trees. To wake her may only start her crying once more and to not wake her may leave her in this state for many days; neither of which was a situation I was comfortable with. If she did not make much movement to allow for our current reality, how was I to care for her? Would she feed as other human do? What food was there for humans and what should I attempt to make her? Well, I was sure the Cullens would know if it came to that…

Upon inspection of the gas gauge, I knew that we would once again have need to stop and refill her vehicle. I did hope that the stopping of the truck would awaken her as she no longer saw the world drift by in its endless stream of trees and road. I glanced at my savior again and wonder how I might save her from herself, if possible. "Elizabetta?" I called to her softly which caused her zibellina to growl lightly at me. I ignored the warnings of the pup.

"Elizabetta?" I called to her a bit more loudly but yet nothing did she say nor move even in the slightest to show some acknowledgement of my voice. I sighed as I pulled off the road onto the ramp which lead to the common travel plaza. It was no more than a station in which travelers might take some rest, eat, relive themselves, as well as fill their vehicles with much needed gas; all without having to venture far from the road.

We were currently just past the boarder within the state of Pennsylvania. I began to head in a southwesternly direction the moment I helped to place my savior in her truck. I knew not where to go for it all seemed impossible to outrun the Volturi Guard forever. Perhaps I should continue south for I knew that if Elizabetta did come out of her comatose state, that she would not wish to head west were family did live.

As I pulled up to the pump, I looked to the still growling sable fur and was curious if I should allow the pup out. Once I placed the nozzle within the truck's proper opening, I should at least make an attempt to allow the pup her break for Elizabetta still made no motion other than with her finger upon the window.

I had no reason to look to the mirrors to be sure of which side the gas was on for I had seen the compartment for the gas cap upon entering the driver's side earlier and, begin a vampire, had perfect recall of its placement. Stopping in alignment with the gas pump, I placed the truck in park and turned the key to turn off the vehicle. I looked to Elizabetta, hoping the soundlessness of the engine and the lack of motion might bring her out of her current state but neither seemed to work.

"Elizabetta?" I called to her for a third time. Rather than acknowledge me, she turned slightly away to her passenger side door and continued the odd patterns upon the glass with her finger. Her eyes, what I could see of them, were far away in thought and hysteria and I made no further motion to wake her.

I exited the vehicle and looked to either pay within the store or pay at the convenience of this automated pump. Glancing at Elizabetta and her sable fur, I chose the convenience of the automated pump and placed the nozzle within her truck upon the instructions on the screen. I had no wish to leave in her current state for any may take her vehicle without her saying a word.

I wished for the lady that I had seen this morning and the lady that had saved me. As she was now, in her hysterical state, it was no more than her beauty of face that stayed with me. Elizabetta was not there and I knew not how to reach her wherever she may be.

Once that gasoline began to flow into the truck's gasoline tank, I went at a quick human pace around the vehicle to allow the sable fur out. The smells assaulting my nose currently were of the tar, dirt, and gasoline –all of which were similar to what I had become accustom to in the city. However, upon opening the door, I was once again assaulted by Elizabetta's scent. The sweet citrus floral that made up her life blood as it pumped it's way through her body beneath that creamy soft skin.

I stood there, frozen as Elizabetta was currently frozen. My inner demon wished to take but a taste, to know of the sweetness of her blood but I knew better. She was an innocent, my savior, and to take but a taste was either to turn her or kill her; neither would I do.

My senses full assaulted, I did manage to reign in my inner demon and looked to the growling pup that bore her teeth at me. As unsure as I was with what to do about Elizabetta currently, I was even more unsure about her pup. Did the creature listen to commands or was she only to listen to her mistress? Esme had been upon the phone when I found Elizabetta, stating that they needed a hotel that accepted pets so was this creature not so fearsome around the Cullen clan? Perhaps once I have fully taken to the vegetarian diet, not just in word but in practice, the pup will no longer find me a threat. Perhaps, as well, Elizabetta's blood will loosen its hold on me. Having been in the car with her for the past hour with the windows up had been well but it may have been with familiarity of her scent that I became so desensitized to it.

"_Do you have need to go out?"_ I asked the pup to which she stopped her growling and cocked her head in a peculiar way but made no further motion to get up. I thought upon what ways to extract the pup from the car and saw her leash lying about the floor. Slowly, so as to not startle her, I reached for the sable fur's cord and picked it up gently. The pup growled softly as I came near. However, I noticed the moment I took the leash, the sable fur stood and looked at me curiously. At least she did stand.

"_Come_," I ordered with a quick but very soft pull upon her leash that she had about her neck. The sable fur continued to growl at me but turned to where her mistress sat. Looking upon that direction, I sighed for I knew not what to do with either creature.

"_Come_," I ordered again to which the sable fur gave me an exasperated sigh and hopped out of the confines of the vehicle. Upon doing so, she stretched as if a cat and not a dog, whilst she bore her teeth at me.

We took to a bit of median as I had seen Elizabetta do earlier in the day with her pup. I knew not if there were additional commands but the pup eagerly now sniffed the ground at her feet prior to relieving herself. We stayed within a quick walk and viewing distance of Elizabetta for I wished for her not to awaken to find both myself and her clearly beloved pet gone. I did not think that such a shock would do her well.

As I awaited the sable fur to finish sniffing the ground at which we walked, I thought upon the feelings that had grown within me during the past day. I felt a need to protect her, a need to want her, a need to even love her that I did not comprehend. Or, so I assumed it to be love for I knew of no other word to describe what I felt. These were things that I assumed would pass as they have done in the past. It would be of little matter in another month or two until I found the next woman's beauty that I should fall victim to. My thoughts came back at me with a resounding no that I could not comprehend. There had always been another vampire that I would fall for and leave once I grew tired of her attentions. However, Elizabetta was not a vampire, she was but a human lady –was this why I fell so easily to her feet and felt a need to protect her as well as love her? Was it also because she had saved me? Then I should return her to her family and leave her for she was far beyond any class known to me.

Of course, this lady wished no harm to befall her family and would not return to the Cullen Clan for she did not wish to lead the Guard to them. This alone gave me great insight into her character and to her knowledge of the Guard; for she knew that they would not know of her connection to the clan lest we go to them and that she loved even those who were incapable of being loved –or so I had believed. Humans could be saved, could leave this mortal world and their mortal flesh but immortals were nothing more than demons forever encased in their cold, hard flesh that was unchanging, unmoving, and, therefore, unloving.

Oh, I have seen the mates of many and knew that we could love our own kind but to be so utterly changed by a human? Perhaps it was the animal blood that allowed them to love her so freely and it was due to their not taking her fellow human lives that she truly loved them. Again, in that sense, she was little more than a pet to them; though no indication of a pet did they give over the phone. Instead, it was more like I had taken their child….

Upon returning to the vehicle, I opened the door and the pup hopped in without much preamble only to return to growling at me. As a show of my own displeasure at her constant rumbles, I threw the leash at her, gently smacking her in the nose with it. It stopped the growling long enough that she made a curious face and I was able to shut the door, laughing lowly to myself.

I replaced the nozzle and locked the gas cap into place before returning to my side as the driver of this human lady. Moving at a human pace, I looked over at Elizabetta as she still sat there, still looked out upon an unseen world; unmoving, unchanging in her state for the past hour. Sighing, I began the engine to the truck once more and continued on our journey to parts unknown; for even I had little idea of what was to come.

It had been hours and the sun had set before Elizabetta even gave the slightest indication that this was but a temporary condition. During that time, I gave pause and picked up her phone to call the Cullen Clan –to see what they might know and if this was something she had done before. However, they had called me instead.

"_She'll come out of it in a few more hours. She's not hysterical, Gabriel, only depressed_," the female voice of the witch named Alice informed me without any formal greeting.

"_How do you know this_?" I asked her, confused by her words.

"_I'm psychic!_" Alice stated with a cherub's laughter in her voice. It was as if this was obvious –which it was- but it only lead to more questions. Prior to my even being able to open my mouth, she spoke again. "_It's my ability_," she stated far more matter of factly.

An ability. Then she was indeed a vampire and not of something other. I had been curious upon that given her words hours earlier unto Elizabetta who seemed to think little of them. Glancing at the human woman who was still curled as if a ball upon the seat, I did hope that this vampire was right in her assertion.

"_Oh, and you'll need to stop for the night for Elizabeth and Ginsie. You do NOT want to be in the car with Elizabeth if she hasn't slept right. Trust me,_" Alice continued. I heard a "_Hell yeah!"_ from an unknown male vampire in the background followed by the sound of someone being slapped. There was a whisper of voices but I could not understand them. All I did hear was a "_someone should warn him about grumpy Lizzie_".

"_What if the Guard_," I began only to be quickly interrupted.

"_I'll watch out for them_," she stated. I heard a slight scuffle and the sounds of a man's voice but little more than that in the background. "_Besides, do you really want my husband to come after you instead?_" Alice more stated than asked with a hint of laughter to her voice.

I could feel my face fall. So this psychic was mate to the Southern General; it was no wonder now how he might come to find if any harm had befallen Elizabetta. "_No_."

Alice again laughed daintily before simply ending the conversation by hanging up her end of the line. I closed the pink contraption that smelled of Elizabetta and looked to my savior once more. Yes, she was indeed loved.

As we raced down the highway in a southerly direction, I saw as Elizabetta began to move. I could feel my hope returning as she slowly pressed herself off the cold glass of the window and, instead, pressed against her seat. Even her pup seemed to take notice of the new movement in great anticipation.

Watching Elizabetta from the corner of my eye, it was as if to see a great flower opening with the setting of the sun. I attempted to not look as a gentleman, but, as a man, I could not help in doing so. Her long legs pushed out from under her, showing their stately beauty as the denim moved, gripping her thighs in a different way whilst the loose fabric pulled no longer along the top of them to now pulling more to the sides. Her back straightened, showing more of her bountiful breast prior to her stretching as much as she could within the confined space of the vehicle.

Her eyes squinted ahead as she peered before us into the darkening road. I could still see perfectly but I was unsure of what Elizabetta might see. Were all her eyes could show her illuminated by the two beams of light from the front of her vehicle? I did not know and continued to watch as her brow furrowed in concentration as she gazed upon the twilight world.

She took in a breath and I thought she might say something but her expression was one of surprise. I dared not to speak to her as of yet given that I still believed her to be hysterical and did not wish for my words to cause her to return to her comatose state. At least with this one, she was animated and no longer looking as if nothing more than a shell.

Rather than speaking as she looked upon the world now through the windshield –and her eyes told me that she was truly looking upon the world and not on her own thoughts-, she bit her bottom lip. I watched as she pulled that soft piece of pink flesh between her teeth and looked upon the world with questions in her head. Did she think that she had made up what she saw in Dunkirk? Was her mind reorganizing those thoughts to show her that the long forgotten building and it's crumbling remains were nothing more than an ill favored dream? I hoped not.

As soon as I might think to question, her expression changed one more. This expression was more calculating, more sure. I only hoped her thoughts were not that she had dreamed the scene but hours ago. How I would love to have Edward with me now so that he might tell me the secrets of her mind!

What words she did speak, surprised me. "_Stay on 76_," she told me as if she was a navigator on this trek. This I would not mind for I would greatly enjoy to drive as it was a man's job and have her give directions but, more than that, I also enjoyed the sound of her voice after not hearing it for hours. That she had thought of a place to go, and arrival point, was only secondary to my joy of hearing her speak once more.

I turned to fully look upon her and, though I had been watching her from the periphery, I was again struck by how much she looked like a woman of my time. Her dark hair still bound, though a few strands no longer accepted their confinement in a braid, and her shapely body were the epitome of beauty during my time. I could not help but smile. "_You have a destination in mind_?" I asked of her softly. She nodded her head in reply. I tried to think of where she might consider going when she spoke again.

"_Even if it's,_" she began slowly before thinking upon her next word. "_Changed_, _Ah know Maryland. Ah know Virginia. Ah know the roads, the museums, and all the various buildings and secrets they hold. Ah know where things are here, or where they are supposed t'be_," she stated in her sleepy southern accent. I have noticed over the course of my half a millennia, that many humans tend to have a deeper accent upon awakening or when their energy is gone. Elizabetta was no different in that regard.

What worried me were her words; despite the incident in Dunkirk, she wished to go to yet another place that held memories for her? She wished to go through this again? Perhaps I was right and her mind had someone changed the events from what had occurred to what she believed to be true; her own mind lied to her to further her insanity.

"_Are you positive that going there will be for good_?" I asked attempting to keep the strain I felt from my voice. She should not be taken to the places she knew well unless it was the place where her family now awaited her return. However, I could not deny her either on the very base that I thought it ill for her.

"_Yes, and don't break my steering wheel_," she snapped at me in her normal manner which made much of my ill feeling fade; for this was the Elizabetta I knew; the strong woman unafraid of a vampire.

However, I did not want this strong lady, this human killer of vampires, to once again retreat from the world even if it were for no more than a few hours. She should be as she was now and not as she was but moments ago. "_You should not be at a place that causes you to question so many of your memories_," I told her gently. I was expecting her to look upon me with curiosity and not the response I did receive.

She shook her head in protest. Elizabetta took no notice of the few unruly dark strands of hair that moved in the opposite direction of her head as she shook it; they framed her ivory skin perfectly. "_I __know_ _these places_," she began in earnest. Her eyes turned to my own visage only to quickly look down once more.

"_It's okay if they aren't the same. I don't expect it now_," she informed me in her soft soprano voice. So her mind had not made up stories to explain why her family no longer lived within the walls of the fallen hotel? It was but her familiarity with the area –had she not know precisely where to go in Dunkirk despite it not being to what she thought?- that drew her to it. Thoughtfully she turned her eyes upward, "_Well, other than the pie place. I'll be horribly disappointed if we get off at exit three in Maryland and there isn't any pie place but that's totally different._" I could not help the small bit of laughter that passed by lips at her one woman discussion regarding a place of sweets. She, in turn, shot daggers with her very eyes upon me. Yes, she was well once more.

Her anger at my laughter upon the lady's expense was short lived however. She continued her explanation as to why we should head to a place that held such memories for her –even if they may be false ones. "_I want to stay south of the Mason-Dixon line. It just always did feel more like…home there_," she said with a hint of sadness at the word _home_. If not by her accent, then her very manner of speech would have told me that she was not of the peoples in the Northeast but from the more Southern areas of the United States. I marveled at that for I had nearly always stayed to the North where cloud cover is a more constant companion.

"_Besides, the guard will be out of their element. Ah know muh way around this place, but do they_?" she stated nearly triumphantly for, indeed, if she knew her way around the area, it would be most useful. In that way, New York City may also be a place for us to go but the Guard learn quickly and I knew not how long they had been in town.

"_It would not take them long to learn, _my dear," I told her only to remember the vampire woman's words from much earlier. Had not Alice stated to Elizabetta that something would work? Something my Elizabetta was thinking upon? "_But if you have plan_…" I began for her for I was most curious as to what plan she might have considered in stopping the Guard.

Again her head moved in the fashion to inform another of an affirmative. "_I'm still formulating parts of it but I think we need to let them come to us_," she informed me. A questioning glance I threw to her for if she was still formulating parts of it then what sort of plan was it? What was there that we could do against the Guard? If her plan was not one that could work or, at least, give us some time, I needed to find a way for the Guard to focus upon myself and not upon her. I needed to return Elizabetta to the Cullen clan where they could protect her; love her. As long as the Guard only came after myself and not after her, all would be well.

Her eyebrows still pinched in thought as she looked forward, she spoke once more. "_We'll need someplace to hide out in. Maybe an old hotel or something because we'll need someplace we can flood with water easily, I think_…"

I did not understand her need for water and thought upon the old myths regarding my kind. Water. Holy water. Though the legends claim we cannot enter a place of worship and that holy relics or things that have been blessed –such as water- will harm us, neither are true. I have seen many enter into a house of prayer only to be the only ones to leave it…

"_Water does not harm us_, little treasure," I informed her thinking on how she could not know such a thing. Did her clan not tell her? It seems such a curious thing to not know given much of her knowledge.

Once more, her lovely stray locks shook vehemently as she moved her head in a negative fashion. "_I know water doesn't harm you,_" Elizabetta stated while she crossed her arms. Annoyance became her most dominate feature. "_It doesn't hurt me either unless I try to breathe it in_," she muttered, very unamused by my insinuation that she knew not of what she spoke. "_With what I'm planning, we'll need water so we don't burn too._"

Burn. Whatever she was planning would involve fire. Fire would destroy my kind to ashes as Elizabetta already well knew but it did not seem that such a weapon as fire would work well given the viciousness of the Guard. I raised an eyebrow at Elizabetta to remind her of yet another key point. "_And how do you plan to burn them without burning us? They will not be as…easily distracted as Jane was_," I stated as I attempted to not let my anger at Jane show through once more. For it was Jane that caused this battle that we now found ourselves in; if not for her, Elizabetta would be safe. Of course, if not for her, I may have never met Elizabetta either.

"_I don't think we need to distract them. If they think we are in the same room_," she said as she again bit her bottom lip prior to facing myself. I attempted to not think upon those lips as she spoke once more. "_When you walk in a room, do you automatically look to turn on a light even though you can see perfectly fine in the dark_?" Elizabetta asked, her question filled with much inquisitiveness.

Once more, I raised my brow at her for her inquiry was something peculiar. "_Sometimes_. Why?" I inquired back. I wished to know what she was thinking but it was made all the more difficult when she turned her face fully from me to once more gauze upon the darkened woods that surrounded the road we currently were on. Her long dark braid fell from over her shoulder to the length of her back. Against the black, I could see the large amount of red within her hair. It was not a dark brown but more of the darkest auburn. Perhaps a cherry wood color.

"_I think I might know a way to get all of them in one simple flick of the switch_," she whispered against the glass. My fear that once more she was turning away from me, from sanity, and going into hysterics bubbled. I needed to keep her talking.

"_A bomb_?" I asked though I knew by her language that such a device is what she had concocted within her head.

I saw her move but a little. Her reply was more of volume than of interest as she stated "_Sorta._" I knew better than to draw this line of questioning out for I needed to have her think upon our current situation and not leave her mind free to think upon the past.

If the problem was that she could build an explosive device of some sort but needed the trigger to be the Guard themselves… Well, it would nto be hard to create a radio or otherwise controlled device. I may know of the time in which to trigger the device to destroy the Guard as they come after us. Without Demetri, the Volturi could never find us.

"_What about a remote detonator_?" I asked her to see if she had thought about such a thing. Surely, a lady that knew of how to make explosive devices would know of how to explode them at a certain time rather than just but a trigger than the intended victim must set off.

Elizabetta sat up straighter at my question and turned to look at me; which was well. I did not wish for her to fall back into her hysteria and not know the time nor day of where she was. However, I also noticed she winced as she looked about as if the very dim lights in the car were troublesome. Perhaps she was simply curious about my proposal.

"_We would not need to rely on the chance of them turning or not turning on a light. We could easily create a remote trigger to ensure any destruction_," I informed her further. Again, Elizabetta bit her lip in thought.

"_Do you think, if we tell them the place is rigged, they might stop and listen_?" she inquired as she looked upon her hands. Her voice was soft and held some sort of worry I could not place. Why would one who had already destroyed a vampire feel the slightest hint of worry in destroying yet another?

I could nto help but allow one small chuckle at the thought of Elizabetta's worries seep through my own stone lips. "_I do not know_, little treasure," I informed her as gently as I might. I looked to her creamy white hands and wished so badly to take them into my own. "_I suppose we could try but the guard is not known for negotiating_," I informed her.

At that, her face fell into a pool of frustration which caused her to wince once more. Rather than turning fully from me this time, she laid her head against the window so that it was clear she was looking upon the reflection of the glass to see my own visage. Thusly, could I see hers.

I began to wonder if she was ill; not mentally, but physically. The windows would be cool and she seemed to place her forehead upon it, not her entire face, as if the window itself were a cool rag. A headache. I had seen other humans over the course of my existence display such symptoms. If that was the case, perhaps I should leave her alone and not ask many more questions. It would explain the softness of her tone and why she did wince upon the slightest change in her facial expressions. However, she could also just tired. The night had fallen and I knew not what hour Elizabetta took for her bed.

I stayed my hand to not touch her, to not awake her, to not disturb her, for only a few minutes time. I could not let her suffer, if she did suffer, without knowing what she suffered from. Reaching out with my right hand, I gently touched Elizabetta's left shoulder, hoping to get a response from her. I did.

She sat up quickly, far too quickly for a human, I thought. I retracted my hand far quicker though, worried that it was my fault for startling her. "_My apologies_, my dear," I told her in truth. She seemed to take no notice.

Rather, she began to unfold herself once more, filling in what limited space the vehicle had to offer her with an arm or a leg. Her unfurling was akin to watching a flower open up it's petals to receive the morning dew.

Before my thoughts could take me too far in what I wish to do with such a flower as her, Elizabetta spoke. "_Is there something wrong_?" she asked, placing her right hand about her forehead. My earlier conclusions, a headache, may be correct after all.

"_I was going to ask you that very question. You seem…ill_?" I inquired. I looked upon her visage a bit more fully and was not well cheered by what I saw. Her eyes seemed to be avoiding any hint of light and she seemed to almost instinctually lean towards the window once more. The day had been too much upon her frail human body and was now exacting it's revenge upon her. When she attempted to smile and laugh upon me –possibly to prove she was well- her face twisted more fully into aggravation and pain.

"_No, it's just my head. I get mi_…" she began before something caught her eye. I was unsure as to what could cause her to drop off mid-sentence in such a manner and, though my vision was perfect, I followed her gaze attempting to discern what might cause even the slightest hint of alarm. I saw nothing.

Wondering why she would suddenly be frightened of anything given the rigidity of her pose, I turned back to the lady and was about to ask what was the matter once more when she turned to me, eyes in alarm. Her ivory hand moved to point outside the windshield as if something obvious were there when her expression changed drastically. Whatever raised her alarm, she could no longer see if her expressions gave way to any truth inside her head.

"Elizabetta?" I asked of her as her alarm left her and she retreated to small ball she had been but moments before, her forehead pressed against the passenger side window.

"_Nothing. It was nothing_," she muttered more in relief to herself than to me. Her voice picked up in volume as she continued to speak; "_I sometimes get hallucinations with my migraines. That's all_." Ah, a migraine. I had heard of those and knew well that their pain may incapacitate a human for a while. Was this what she had?

I knew little, though, on hallucinations. But I did know that Elizabetta seemed to miss little.

"_What did you think you saw_, little treasure?" I asked of her for I was genuinely curious. Her reaction was not one I expected. She turned to me, her green eyes becoming narrow slits once more. Fury was her main expression now that I could place them upon her.

"_Why do ya care_?" she asked in defiance. Before I could give a proper answer and explain that I was merely curious, she continued on her verbal rampage. "_Jasper won't get all over ya for muh getting' a migraine so don't worry about it_," she puffed. Her arms folded over her exquisitely plump chest as she turned to the passenger window for but a moment. In her calming, she reached for her flea fur behind her, using her right arm to fit through the small crack betwixt the seat and the frame of the truck. The sable fur, in reply, licked her mistress' hand.

I knew not to respond that it was my curiosity and not my concern regarding my own existence which had been threatened by her Southern General. Rather, I needed to quiet her own frustration with what little logic I could. "_He may not, but he may not be contented with me if I do not attempt to help alleviate your pain either_, Elizabetta," I informed her as best I might. She was in pain and that needed to be remedied. I would not have my savior waste one moment of her human life in pain.

"_I'll be fine until we get to a hotel or something. I just need about twenty painkillers and a chainsaw for my head_," she muttered facetiously against the window. I did choke back a laugh at that.

"_I do not think a chainsaw would do much good but I shall attempt to find painkillers once we stop_," I teased her gently. I knew there was no seriousness in her comment. However, at the idea of a hotel, I did wonder if she had a plan for that as well.

My mind stopped at the very idea of being in a hotel room with not only someone that was still quite human during their most vulnerable hours but one that was my savior, one that was a beautiful lady, one that, despite my attempting not to, I was growing to love over these few short hours. Love was not something that could be prevented but it was something that could fade and I did hope my affections would fade for her sake. She was still human and her warm creamy skin lying exposed in such a manner as sleep would bring her….

"_Is there anywhere in particular you wish to stay for the night? Is there a hotel or inn near this pie place of yours_?" I asked of her in an attempt to derail my own thoughts once more. She turned to look at me but her face showed pain rather than anger.

"_I don't know. I think we'll be fine until Fredrick. There's a hotel there at the intersection of 270 and 70_," Elizabetta stated in a quick and quip fashion. Though she was one not to hold her tongue, her very tone told me of the pain she was in. I did not think she would make it to a hotel and there was no reason for her to suffer.

"_Are you sure you will alright until then_?" I asked as I stole a glance upon her form; Elizabetta retaking her ball like shape that accented the curvature of her backside perfectly. Seeing her form so acutely in her jeans did not help my mind from straying to what I would like to do with her once we entered this hotel room.

"_Migraines are just painful. Not deadly_," she retorted in a quick manner. I could not help but to sigh since she wanted nothing for her pain and only to rest upon such time as we arrived at this unknown intersection. I could not allow her to be in pain for that long.

The moment I saw the opportunity to do so, I pulled over at a gas station for not only did Elizabetta need medicine for her head but it was not a bad idea to once again fill the tank of her truck with gasoline. Upon pulling into the station and preparing to exit the vehicle, I turned to look at a questioning Elizabetta. "_Wait here_, my dear," I ordered. She made no motion to stop me or to disobey such and order. I perchance happened to look upon the sable fur who again had returned to her low growls upon my visage. The alst time the pup had been outside of the vehicle was when I had taken her last. "_Should I allow the dog a break as well_?" I inquired, unsure of how often such animals had need to relieave themselves.

Rather than answer in turn, Elizabetta stretched her body, wincing as she did so. Her green eyes closed as the bright neon lights of the store front hit her face upon her more straightened posture. As she moved, still unspeaking, to undo her seat belt, I placed my hands on hers. I would not allow her to move if she was in such pain. No human that was as good as Elizabetta need suffer so needlessly. Her eyes looked to mine for but a moment prior to looking down upon our hands.

"_I'll bring the_ …," I began to say zibellina once more but knew better than to call the pup a sable fur in front of Elizabetta ever again. "_You said her name is Ginise_?" I corrected myself. "_I will bring her right back_," I whispered to her. She but nodded her head as I tore myself away. As much as I did not wish to loose the contact of her creamy white skin, I did need to take the flea fur for a walk once again. The pup had other ideas as her growls became more ferocious upon my opening of the passenger door. Though I had dealt with this earlier, it was Elizabetta's voice that calmed the savage beast immediately.

"_It's alright, Ginsie. Go with Gabriel_," she stated softly. Again, to hear my name upon those succulent lips brought me more joy than I had experienced in many decades. It was, of course, merely love; an emotion I knew of to some degree. During my time, men were expected to fall in and out of love with many over the course of their lives –such was natural for men and many Courtesans would help them. Love was nothing more than another emotion that faded over time.

The problem was, this time, I could not even conceive of such a time when my love would fade and I would wish to give Elizabetta back to her clan without ever having the slightest regard as to whether or not I would see her again. Instead, I found myself thinking upon the sacrifice it would be to give her back and leave without any further ado; my only comfort is that there was a band of vampires for her protection.

As the sable fur went about sniffing the ground, I recalled that the dog had not had much of drink or food –neither had Elizabetta- in many hours. Perhaps that should be my next priority. I tugged gently upon the leash, feeling a slight bit of resistance from the pup who did turn and growl once more at me. I raised my brow at this stubborn creature and but asked it one thing, "So you do not wish to return to your mistress in the truck?" The dog looked upon the object, the truck, and began to trot in her own way back. Rather than placing the creature in the backseat behind Elizabetta, I thought it better, given that she was ill, to have some comfort closer to her and brought the dog to the front of vehicle. I opened the driver's side upon seeing Elizabetta's sleeping form as I did not wish to disturb her. Still, she heard the door open and awoke suddenly. Her curious green eyes turned to my blood red ones and I could not help but smile at the look upon her face as I placed the shivering and wary sable fur into the truck.

"_I thought you might wish for your pet to join you_," I tried to whisper at what I hoped was a human volume. I believe loud noises were known to aggravate such things as migraines. As if she were weakened by this pain, Elizabetta reached for her pup who obliged her greatly by walking across the small central compartment and curled to her mistress' thigh. Only the sable fur's head laid upon Elizabetta's lap and how I envied that dog upon that moment.

"_Thank you_," Elizabetta whispered, a smile upon her lips as she looked down upon her beloved pet, brushing back the white and ginger fur with her creamy white hand. I could only nod my head for the jealousy in me was an irrational one as it raged. I turned to the store to retrieve what items I could for both the sable fur and her mistress. The sable fur that curled about Elizabetta's thigh, that laid her head upon Elizabetta's lap; the sable fur could touch her without worry and Elizabetta would never have need of fear of such a creature as that. The most the canine could do even in the worst of moments is bite perhaps a finger and even then, I doubted that there would be any reason for such a vicious attack.

I could not sit next to her, touching her splendid flesh, without a constant reminder to not kill her, to not destroy something so innocent and so righteous as this human lady was. Yet, had I not been this entire day next to her in a car? Had I for one moment given into any serious thoughts of devouring her delectable blood? No. Perhaps there was a way for me then to do nothing more than hold her close, perhaps even be able to kiss her without feeling the need to go further either in lust or in bloodlust…

I looked about the store in hopes to find something for both the lady and her beast. I knew of not which medications to get and bought all that said pain reliever. I also found a bag of dog food for the sable fur, a bottle of water, a bowl, and the teas that I had seen Elizabetta consume earlier. I hoped that it would be enough until such time as we made it to the hotel.

Placing the bowl, with a bit of water, and the bag of food in the back first, I then slid into the front seat prior to taking off towards this unknown destination that Elizabetta had in mind. I knew not what to expect for this time was longer than I had spent with most humans –even the black widows of whom I use to prey, I spent but a few hours upon the day or evening with; it was only upon their ending that I might spend a day with them.

Upon an hour and a half, did I realize we were getting close for Elizabetta began to sit up once more and her green eyes narrowed to look into the darkness as if searching for something. As the lights of a small town arose on the horizon, Elizabetta's lips twitched into a smile. Her eyes began to look even more uplifted and it was but a matter of minutes before, in near full joy, she turned to me.

"_Get off at 31 A_," she did order. I found such a thing as a human ordering a vampire to do anything amusing still despite my knowledge of the threat that did exist in this human lady. Or, perhaps, it was the idea of a lady ordering a man than that did amuse me.

"Yes, my lady," I ribbed. She, of course, scowled to which I could not help but smile.

I took the exit and parked the truck that had been our confines for most of the day. Both the lady and the sable fur were quick to rid themselves of it's steal cage and strech within the moonlight. I watched as Elizabetta's form pulled itself into accentuating every last curve, her breasts rising as she pulled her arms above her head as if to touch the moon like Diana.

I watched as this goddess before me turned to face the hotel building to which we had come. She did not move. To but brush by her, to touch such a divine creature softly, would not hurt her. I needed to remind myself of such things.

"_I'll see if they have room_," I informed her as I pushed thoughts of more than a touch, more than a casual brush away. I could not take this creature and make her mine. She was a goddess or an angel, and I was but a lesser demon. Still, to have her here, this close. She nodded to me as I passed by this perfect creature.

"_Umm, Gabriel? Wait_," she told me. I turned to see the lady pull up the bit of leather she had, held by a chain to her belt loops around her waist. I stayed her hand with my own, placing it atop of hers. She was a lady; and as a man –gentleman or not- I would not allow her to have any want. Anything she desired or needed was to be my burden. She saved my existence, if nothing else, and for that, I was her servant.

"_No_, my dear," I told her. I knew I needed to explain to her that she was not to pay, ever. I settled for the truth thinking that it may have some affect upon her stubborn soul. "_We are both in need to recuperate from this day,_" I began. It was true for I did need to think more upon the Guard and what tools I would need in this day and age to create a remote detonator. I had not attempted such a thing in thirty years and knew the technology was more advanced now. "_You have saved my very existence. Allow me to make sure yours is little in the way of wants_," I continued.

Elizabetta looked mystified and unsure of what I had said, as if I had not spoken in her common tongue. "_I thought this was a business arrangement_," she stuttered before blinking twice; closing off those perfect green eyes from me twice. She took a step back, pulling her ivory hand from my stone one and aggravation and rage filled her features though I knew not why.

"_It is_," for I was to be her servant as she was a human lady in need of protection. Did not humans still have bodyguards?

"_You were trying to dazzle me_!" she shouted with a stomp of her foot. The sound of her mistress' voice in anger caused the sable fur to return to growling once more at me.

I did not understand her words. Dazzle? Did that not mean to stupefy?

"_Dazzle_?" I inquired for I knew nothing of the word. If anything, it was this human lady that had attempted to dazzle me.

"_Yes, dazzle. You idiotic red-eyed_…" she began only to take notice of other people within the parking lot. Rather than continue on her tirade, she stomped her foot again and groaned in frustration. Elizabetta was just as careful about keeping our secret as we were; if not more so.

I did not understand this word, dazzle. Did she think I thought her brainless? She was hardly that. Did she think vampires had some sort of ability to hypnotize their prey? Perhaps it was that. She is hardly the first human who has stuttered when I spoke softly or otherwise acted in an irrational manner. However, she is the first human to become enraged about it.

I could not help but to laugh for only Elizabetta would become enraged at a vampire –a demon that could kill her without a second thought- and still stand here. As I laughed, her green eyes turned like ice in my direction and the thought of "if looks could kill" came into my mind. It was a good thing I was not amongst the living in that sense and could not help but laugh more at this precious angel amongst the demons.

She began to walk to the hotel doors and I knew she would pay her own way if I let her, which I would not. Even if her family had not threatened my existence, it was not proper for a man to allow a lady to pay any part of his board or for anything he had want of. I reached for her and gently held the lady by the shoulder. Her sable fur growled more at me from our feet. "_No_, little treasure. _'Dazzle' or no, I was being serious. Now, do you want to really argue over this_?" I asked with a smile as I could already predict the answer.

She crossed her arms, the leash to sable fur tangled lightly betwist them. "_I'll go get a new flame thrower_," she did state for my sake lowly. I laughed once more at such an idea for I knew well that although the threat was not meant to be serious, that she could very well destroy me with such a weapon as she did Jane. I took one of her hands from her and kissed the top of it lightly, knowing that it was no where near her lips and such a thing would be easy to be gentle.

Gently, I gave her hand back before entering the building. It was nothing of glamour but it was clean and well lit. I would need to find better accommodations for Elizabetta tomorrow for she should stay in only the best of hotels and not in whatever was along the side of the road. Though, for being along the side of the road, it was not poor.

The man behind the desk gave me a wary smile as I approached. "_Hello, sir. How may I help you_?" he asked with a slight gulp. I gave a reassuring smile since I was not hungry tonight and had promised my savior that I would attempt this vegetarian diet.

"_I have need of a room for two and do you accept small pets?_" I asked, recalling what the vampire woman had asked as she made reservations early this morning.

Immediately, the man began to type upon his computer. "_Yes, sir. But it will be an extra $25 for the night if you have a dog_," he explained. Money was nothing and twenty five hardly seemed like a large amount at all.

"_That will be fine_," I stated as I continued to make the arrangements and receive the keys. It was simply easier to have one room so that I might keep an eye on my savior and make sure the Guard did not get to her. I could hold them back long enough for her to escape if nothing else. She could return to her home, to her clan that loved her.

Upon my return to Elizabetta and her sable fur, I saw the goddess upon the telephone speaking with someone. I had little doubt that it was a member of her clan. "_I'll try and call you tomorrow morning, alright_?" she said onto this unknown person. I was close enough to her at this point that I could hear the voice upon the other side of the line.

"_Call whenever you can, Elizabeth. I want to hear from you at least once a day, please_?" the vampire woman, Esme, stated. Now that I was close enough to hear, I could place the voice and knew I was correct in my assumption that it was to her clan that Elizabetta spoke. Esme sounded, once more, as if a mother talking to a child. I felt a pang of guilt due to the worry in the vampire woman's voice.

"_I promise_," Elizabetta told her followed by a quick "_I love you too, Esme. Bye!_" It was only after she admitted her love to the vampire woman that she turned to look upon me with questioning eyes.

I held my hand for Elizabetta's to which she gave me her sable fur's leash. I suppose she is not use to a man wishing for her hand. Though, no man am I but no more than a demon. I took the leash as I spoke. "_They allow pets_," I informed her, smiling at her curious movement. "_We are on the first floor_," I told her to which her face fell. She began to move back to the truck and I moved with her. "_I am sorry, but I believe for simplicity's sake and for my own sanity that it is better if we stayed in the same room. Seeing as I have no need of sleep, I will be able to ensure the Guard do not catch us unaware," _I continued to inform her. She merely nodded and scavenged about the truck for various bags and items. It was at this point I managed to sneak the leash back to Elizabetta and grab at least one of the many bags she had brought with her. Why she needed so many for one night, I was unsure. Was this a human thing or an Elizabetta thing? Did not a human need no more than a change of clothing and perhaps some minor items for her toilet?

When I led her inside, I watched the other humans to see their reactions. I kept a polite smile about my face for none of these would I drink from unless the dare to attack Elizabetta or hurt her in anyway. The few humans that were there sat in the lobby watching some entertainment upon the television screen. Their natures got the best of them and each of the individuals looked up to see of whom had entered the doors. I could not hear what they thought, but I could hear their whispers. One of the men, and oversized portly creature, turned to his companion to say that he wouldn't mind "hitting that" either in such a manner, directing to my Elizabetta, that it took a great deal for me not to go over and slice his throat with my teeth just so he would never be able to utter another word against her in such a manner. I squeezed my hold upon the bags that Elizabetta had charged me with and continued to walk her to our room, where she would be safe and out of such vermin's eyes.

I felt a slight bit better as we entered the hall to which no other humans currently were. Some were in their rooms, engaged in a variety of activities, but none occupied the hallway so none would see my savior. Upon opening the room, I allowed Elizabetta and her sable fur in first. Elizabetta stepped in but three paces and stopped to take the pup off the leash.

What happened next was amusing to my eyes. The sable fur darted off as if this were some race and sniffed every spare corner of the small, basic, but clean room. Was she to investigate the entire room and find it lacking, would she tell her mistress of such? To what would a simple living ball of fur, such as this pup, find lacking in a room such as this? That it did not have a patio door?

Elizabetta turned to look to the bathroom and press up upon each and every switch. As she moved by me, I felt the friction of her arm against my own. "_She just needs to know where she is_," the goddess Diana incarnate told me. Unsure if she wished me to be closer or further away from her in this inadequate space, I went to the bed that was nearer the door in the center of the room, since there were no chairs, and sat down. As I did so, I replied, "_I see little wrong with that. It smells of cleaners, cotton, and a slight smoke residue to me_."

Elizabetta nodded in such a manner that I did not believe she realized she had done so, and went towards the other bed only to throw her pink duffle bag down. Her other bags that I had carried were now sitting upon the floor in the very small foyer –if could dare to be called that- within the room. Inside, I noticed, supplies for sewing and her laptop computer.

Upon my words, Elizabetta's nose wrinkled a bit as if in distaste. "I_ can smell the cleaners. But it's not too bad_," she told me. Prior to even being able to carry any sort of conversation, the sable fur jumped upon the bed that Elizabetta had claimed as her own on basis of her duffle bag and began to move about it in a very odd fashion. The pup laid upon her back and wriggled back and forth as if scratching her back with the quilted comforter. This was clearly something Elizabetta had seen before for she sighed at such display. "_Ginsie, stop that. Just lay down_," the human lady stated as if she knew her order was to be disobeyed and not true threat laid behind it. It was disobeyed, immediately. As I thought upon the human lady and her needs, I recalled the need for food. I had brought in the dog's food and placed it upon the small table or desk that was in the room.

"_I should get you food_," I told her. Granted, a part of it was truly having thought upon the human lady's needs, but the other part was that upon sitting on the bed, watching Elizabetta, it was hard not to think of my own hungers once more and they were not of the bloodlust. I was no better than that creature out there that I wished to kill to protect Elizabetta's reputation from any form of slander.

"_I'm not that hungry_," she said as if her mind was elsewhere whilst she looked through her bag for something.

"_Still, your vampires reminded me that humans need to eat three times a day at least and not only once every couple of weeks or so_," I told her as I took to get the room key. There should be something of human subsistence within this building or nearby. Humans never had a place to sleep without a place to eat within but a few feet of each other.

Of course, my reasons for leaving were also secondary. Elizabetta, no doubt, would need some time for her toilet and perhaps to change into night clothing. I knew little of how such things worked in this modern world but I was unsure of myself, knowing she was changing in that small water closet. To know, to hear her pulling the fabric from her skin… I could not be in the room yet for that. "_Prepare yourself for the night and I shall return shortly_," I informed her.

I went into the lobby once more and asked the man at the counter where food may be purchased. He showed me yet another small room with an odd assortment of vitals that I knew nothing of. "_Is it for your girlfriend_?" he asked in kind upon my puzzled expression at the strange packages that claimed to be dinners, frozen and incased in plastic. They looked nothing like the fish and herbs I remembered of my human existence or like the various entrees served in the restaurants I had been too with my various prey.

My girlfriend? I did not wish for this man to think of her in such simple terms. Elizabetta was not my girlfriend. Did I love her? Yes, that much I had already admitted to myself. Did I care for her? Yes, I knew I wished no harm or pain to come to her. Harm and pain though seemed to be coming at us. My worry over her safety, the idea that the Guard might be in the room currently, attacking her, became nearly overpowering.

"_My wife is a picky eater_," I told him without thought. My wife? It seemed an odd thing to call her and yet if fit with how I thought of Elizabetta already. She was what I thought a wife should be in many ways; ferociously protective and yet beautiful, intelligent and to her, no lies could I tell. Unlike my wife in my human life, no lies, had she as of yet, told me.

The man smiled and handed me a meal that claimed to be turkey, green beans, and a brownie. "_I haven't heard of anyone not liking this one before_," he said. He also handed me a drink, though I knew not what of other than it was in a green bottle.

"_Charge it to room 114, please_," I said as I made my way quickly back to the room, afraid of what I know thought Elizabetta of and afraid of what may be behind the door since I left her alone. I was much relieved to hear her voice as I opened the door for it sounded complacent.

"_Well, pup, at least we don't have to worry too much about running into anyone ugly. It's not like there is such a thing as a balding, overweight, vampire with greasy skin and a bad combover, right_?" she said as she laid upon the bed, her pup curled to her side. Though I knew I was not to hear such a remark, I could not help but to answer.

"_No, I have yet to meet anyone that has that description_," I stated back, much amused. Here she was, lying about bed, talking to her sable fur, and no Guard in sight. With one fear quelled, the other surfaced. Did I truly think of Elizabetta as my wife, my mate if I dare to use that word, or was it my need to protect her virtue and honor?

Startled, Elizabetta seemed to roll only to stand immediately. My fear for her safety grew to outweigh my own fears that this beautiful human lady might be my mate. "_Your dinner_?" I more inquired than told her as I held the box out for her to take. No, this human could not be my mate. Humans were food, innocent in the world of monsters. I was a demon, destined to suck the lifeblood out of other living souls. A demon could not claim an angel as his own.

"_Thank you_," she whispered before carefully reading the package. I saw her look to the ingredients and did wonder if I might get her another bit of food altogether when she began to rip apart the packaging and throw the bit of plastic in the black microwave oven.

The room filled with the aroma of overcooked flesh, vegetables, and preservatives as Elizabetta went to fill the sable fur's bowls with food. As I fed my pet, so did she feed her own. Of course, my Elizabetta was not a pet and she would hold her own against me for daring to utter such a thing. This much had I learned of the human lady in this past day.

With her meal in one hand, once the contraption beeped at us, and what she called a "moat", which I learned was a remote control, in the other, my savior sat with her legs crossed beneath her upon her bed. She had a pillow for a table in her lap. I had taken to my own bed and sat upon it as she found what she wished to watch for entertainment.

I was curious to know more about her and hoped her choices in entertainment might help but none of it seemed to satisfy her. She muttered something about "re-runs" a few times only to eventually curl up upon her own bed and fall asleep as the sounds of various bands played upon the contraption.

Seeing this human lady lay there, her sable fur near by also lost to dreams, I noticed the softness and contentment in her face. Her green eyes were closed off to me but not the small smile upon her lips. I moved to place a blanket over her though she laid the wrong way upon the bed. It was as m fingers touched her shoulder, as I pulled the blanket taunt around her, I came to the conclusion that it matter little if she was or was not my mate but what was good for her. I did not matter, only she did.

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**Author's Note**: Reviews, please? This is pretty much Chapter 16 in the Stars and the Sun.


	10. Chapter 10

La luce della Luna

**Disclaimer**: Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stephine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary**: The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's note**: Hope y'all like this chapter! And yeah, it's M for a reason. I'm sure everyone can figure out why...

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_I'm dying of thirst beside the fountain,_

_Hot as fire, and with chattering teeth:_

_In my own land, I'm in a far domain:_

_Near the flame, I shiver beyond belief:_

_Bare as a worm, dressed in a furry sheathe,_

_I smile in tears, wait without expectation:_

_Taking my comfort in sad desperation:_

_I rejoice, without pleasures, never a one:_

_Strong I am, without power or persuasion,_

_Welcomed gladly, and spurned by everyone. _

–_François Villon 15__th__ Century_

I sat upon the edge of my bed and watched carefully. In the past hour and one half since I had turned the television off, finding this human lady who willingly slept knowing perfectly well that a vampire sat but feet from her, far more of interest. In that time, since the television had gone silent, I saw her chest rise and fall one thousand three hundred and twenty two times. It was a steady, even rhythm given that she was fastly asleep and none could wake her.

If any could, then my moving her should have, for what sort of creature could sleep through a predator holding them that closely? To have her body at it's most vulnerable, that close to mine was something I was still thinking upon.

Her eyes had closed upon the start of one show as the television drowned on. She had no interest in it, this much I could tell, but still, Elizabetta fought to keep her eyes open from her spot upon her own bed. She held a pillow to her head, raising it so that she could watch the various entertainments upon the screen whilst she lay upon her stomach. It was only a minute, possibly less, until her eyes fluttered closed one last time and no more could I catch the bit of green that lay hidden behind those dark lashes.

Her form was half curled upon the bed as her breathing slowed to the soft in and out that it currently was. At first, fearful of waking her from her much needed rest, I placed but a blanket upon her, my fingers gracing her shoulder. I thought upon the soft creamy skin that just barely was exposed betwixt her dark locks and the edge of that blanket but quickly banished such thoughts for as tempting as the pulsating vein was that lay right there hidden beneath her creamy skin, so close; her safety overrode such temptation quickly. What her safety did not override was my overwhelming other lust, the need for such a creature as this lady, made all the more painful as I watched her sleep.

For there she lay, exposed though she had her day clothing still and a blanket about her. It was her trusting nature, her innocence that was exposed for she knew me but for a few days, since the moment she saved me from Jane, and knew me to be a killer of her kind, of humans, and yet her she slept as if none of this be true. My hand reached for her many times only to stop short as I watched her. I wanted to pull the blanket back and away once more, to kiss that tender flesh until her breathing was not the soft ebbing and flowing that it currently was, but hot and quick against my own flesh. I wanted her.

Control was not something I had much of; this much I knew. A crowded theater or a transportation terminal had such a mix of scents that it was hard to adhere to one and follow it making such control over the bloodlust easy. However, in this small room, alone with but a dog and a beautiful human lady, the only reason for any control was my honor, what little I may of it left. I could not kill my savior –a phrase I had repeated many times since my taking of her from her clan- and I could not kill an innocent –something I had not done in many hundreds of years. Or, rather, not on purpose. My food source was that of thieves, murderers, and rapists. Creatures that had lost their human souls to the devil's game. I wished to rid the world of them knowing that such a thing would not be possible.

But this girl, this human, was more akin to an angel as I was a demon. She did not deserve death, but life. And how I wished to see her live! Yet, even as I thought upon such things, my lust for her body again raged through my brain for she moved but a slight bit, curling into a tighter ball, the blanket falling behind her as she tugged upon it to bring it to her chin.

Just a simple kiss…

No, I reminded myself for I could not wake this sleeping beauty. I lasted all of one hundred and fifty seven of her breaths prior to not being able to take not touching her. My justification was that it was wrong to allow her to lay upon the bed in such a manner without placing her beneath the covers where she could be warm, tucked within the crisp clean sheets. In truth, it was because I wished to have her in my arms, though I knew it wrong. What was far more wrong was the lust that raged within me, allowing me to wish to be tucked between her warm folds, having her surround me with her warmth as I penetrated her.

Of course, that would never happen. She was human and I had already come to the conclusion that her life was more important than my lust, and my bloodlust would always reign when I gave over to my instincts in such a manner. It had happened many times before. It was how all my human lovers had died. Such a thing would I not allow to happen to Elizabetta… yet, did not the Denali coven take humans as their lovers? Perhaps it was a vegetarian thing and perhaps it took many centuries. Elizabetta could not wait for such control nor should she. I was nothing more than a demon thinking of taking an angel for his very own.

I slipped the sheets back first so that I might place her beneath them without awakening her. Turning to the human lady before me once more, I hesitated. What if I waked her? What if my lust currently raging in my head got the better of me and I could not help but to kiss her? I rarely stopped at but a kiss though no woman have I ever taken unwillingly. Did she even want me in such a way?

That thought did place some ice upon my thoughts for I had known her but a few days –hours truly- and love for humans was not always an instant thing. There were manners and etiquette to consider although which rules did one such as Elizabetta play by? What if she wished not for me at all and would think nothing of going back to her clan never to see myself again? I could not conceive of such a thing for she was all that consumed my thoughts –how could it not be so for her?

Realizing that my savior may very well feel nothing for me and only stay out of self preservation and nothing more, I carefully placed one arm beneath the crook of her knees and cradled her head with the other, my arm angled in such a way that my hand brushed her back. What happened next, I cannot describe in any full detail because it is impossible to explain what I felt. Her body was curled toward me as I cradled the sleeping woman in my arms. Her warmth and her scent were both invigorating as it was tortuous. I could not describe her scent beyond the floral and citrus I already knew it to be but to feel her warmth fill me, to feel it saturate my flesh…

Was I not thinking of penetrating her warm center now to have her penetrate me with her warmth? I could feel the heat coming off of her body, pushing through the many layers of cloth to pull around my cold dead heart and enliven it once more with the forgotten fire not of transformation, but of being human. Though my heart did not move, nor did I in any physical way; mentally, my entire focus shifted. The monsters in me, for both lust and bloodlust were their own demons, roared as this new creature awakened; for it was not something newly created within me but more as if something that had only been stirring now awoke after a long sleep. It was the human man I had been so many centuries ago.

It did not matter how close my hands were to her, how badly still I wished to kiss her lips, or even how much a part of me still wished to drink her sweet scented blood; I was a lord by birth and it was dishonorable to think of Elizabetta as anything less than the precious lady she was. As a lord, I was to give refuge to those in need, and what was Elizabetta but in need? I had done this out of my own honor, long forgotten and asleep, but now fully awakened I realized that, beyond the drilled manners of a lord, beyond the love for her I knew I had, that she was truly my mate.

The thought had crossed my mind earlier, granted, but to now see her, to now have her so close, holding her in my arms –if I stood like this for all eternity, I could do so knowing this is where she was safest. I would not have thought so but a few seconds before, prior to my picking her up to place her in the bed properly. Now, her warmth filled me, reaching to the very depth of me I thought long forgotten and gone; she filled me with doubt, with trepidation, with love for some one other than myself.

No, it was not her body I wanted, I confused lust with love; or, rather, it was not solely her body I wanted, for if she freely gave to me what was only hers to give, I would take it gladly. I wanted her, I wanted it to truly be said that this was my wife, my mate as I did declare to the innkeeper earlier –though then out of respect for my savior and to protect her virtue, now out of full love. I had known I loved her through much of this day, but I did not comprehend how much so until the moment. It was if the seeds from earlier had awoken to the light of the moon in this darkness, flourishing in it's dim rays to illuminate what already lay sewn deep within my being. What had been but a confusing emotion now fully encompassed me and all I wished to do at this moment was hold her in my arms and watch her as she slept.

But what then? For this spell would be broken upon the opening of her eyes. No, not for me, but for her sake. I knew that humans do not fall this quickly and what would she think of her strange human drinking vampire so close to her, holding her as if she were a precious china doll whilst a bull rampaged through the room? She would be fearful, of this I had no doubt, and she would run. I could not allow that for –as long as she was with me- I could protect her from the Guard and not allow them to touch her.

We had a plan of which I knew but parts. It should not be hard to create a bomb that would eliminate most of our pursuers. As long as Demetri was taken out, it would be difficult for the rest of the Guard to discover where we lay hidden. Perhaps years it would take before any such discovery; in which time I could declare my love for Elizabetta and turn her, assuming I had the strength to do so. Perhaps the Cullens would be willing to turn her if she asked them, if she wished for it and if she even wanted me. What would a human angel want with the devil himself? Could an angel such as Elizabetta fall?

What if she had no wish to be changed to a vampire? For few did wish for such a fate, going into this life fully knowing what they were to become. Would I be able to stand by and allow her to age and to die? An emptiness –or, more aptly, a darkness- filled me with the very thought. I had watched my son, my Francesco, grow old, marry, have his own sons and daughters, only to die. That had destroyed what humanity I had left in me at the time, or so I believed. This reawakened human side I felt within me –though only just now awoken from his long slumber- could not withstand such a blow again. I would rather stay in the invisible flames that Jane had wrought upon me but days ago for all eternity than even consider going through an ounce of the pain that was still written upon my memory of the death of someone I loved so dearly. Physical pain was nothing compared to the black ice that broke into the emptiness left where my soul had departed.

Yet, could I change Elizabetta against her will? No, that I could not do either so the choice was, if she had no wish to be changed, then to die myself after she was taken from me. Assuming the sweet lady that slept within my arms even wished for me in the manner I wished for her.

Slowly, I reached to place her upon the bed properly. What if she had no wish for me either as friend or as a lover? The debate upon her being turned or not would be meaningless if she did not even want me. But, how could one that lived with vampires, which called upon them as a daughter or a sister calls upon her own family, not wish to be turned? Would she wish to cause them the pain of loosing her to her mortality? I could not see Elizabetta wishing that upon those that she loved so the idea of her being turned seemed inevitable.

It was only the idea of me as her mate that was within question. Not that I questioned my feelings for her as I gently placed her upon the less than gentle cotton sheets. The thread count was too low for them to be anything more than mediocre, something that should not be against the skin of one I would make my wife if she would let me.

It was her feelings for me that were in question. I could not think of how to phrase the multitude of questions I had in that regard. There were too many unknowns causing for too many possibilities –each more improbable than the next- to make any serious effort to discover whether or not she had even a hint of the same feelings for me as I did for her.

My arms pulled away from her body, my hands brushing against her knees and her voluptuous spine, before I pulled the sheets up to enwrap her in them. They were clean, of this much I knew. She was safe here.

Now, as she lay tucked beneath cotton and polyester –for the covers and the blanket did I pull about her form- I watched her. The warmth I felt from her body, transferring to my own, had left me but not its impression. It was to her I owed my life but also my rebirth. The human lord I was, though still groggy in my head from centuries of sleep, now sat with the monsters of lust and blood. My very self was pulled not in two directions, but three; and to that third did I wish to go.

Over the next several hours, I thought of ways to woo this lady only to realize that my attention should be to the Guard and how to protect her. From there, my thoughts took me to the plan to destroy the Guard and then to take her back to her family. The thought of family brought me back to her love for them and if Elizabetta herself wished to be turned, which, again, brought me back the ideas for wooing her. It was a vicious cycle that had no end but that of the morning rays.

As the thin bits of light seeped through the edges of the dark curtains, I heard a soft growl. Looking to the pup, the sable fur had her head upon her paws and was looking at me from her mistress' feet. Elizabetta moved slightly in her sleep upon the sound, the contours of her body changing as she did so. I could make out how her leg stretched but slightly as she pushed her perfectly round bottom back, scrunching her eyes as she did so.

Should I be here when she awoke? Though she knew of what we were and trusted those in the coven that she called family, I was still much a creature of nightmares. No, I should do as a gentleman should and allow this sleeping beauty to arise with no more than her pup by her feet. As much as I wished to awake her with a kiss, to break the spell that caused her to rest, I also did not wish for the spell she had wrought over me to end.

Instead, I would retrieve some sort of acceptable human food from around the area to treat the lady to breakfast in bed if she so wished it. This seemed a far better idea than to watch her as her eyes fluttered open upon the morning sun. The Guard were not around, as of yet, and I believe the gypsy vampire would foretell if such were to come to pass and call prior to any interaction with the Guard.

I got up, getting a more earnest growl from the pup, before heading my way towards the door. As I passed by one of the mirrors in the room, I realized the great need I had to become more presentable. Though my features never once changed, I could change my clothing. I had nothing in that regard in which to change into. Perhaps Elizabetta may know the area well enough to know of any shopping establishments in which I might buy a new suit or simple trousers? It would be far better than my more common method of taking from my victims if their clothing be a good fit.

Once more, I left the hotel room to find what I may of food for my human savior. I could smell something sticky and sweet that may or may not be human food but I thought to trace it to its source.

As I turned the corner within the lobby in the direction of this smell and many others that were of human food, I could also smell humans. I was not thirsty and too interested was I in attempting to get Elizabetta a bit of food that I paid little attention to the humans that were gathered. Before I could enter some sort of reception or banquet hall in which various humans were queued up for their morning meal, I saw the portly individual that made those ghastly comments directed at Elizabetta last night.

I sealed my fists tightly and turned upon the sight of him. Every fiber of my body wished to kill him, to destroy the source of even the slightest ill will towards my savior. My mate. Though, I had promised her that I would never partake of human blood again, I fought greatly at this instance. It was better to walk away from the man and let him live. After all, it was but words and not action that he had committed to. No harm physically had come to my mate.

It did not seem to matter. As I quickly walked back towards the hotel room –thinking all the while that I shall stop at any restaurant Elizabetta may wish for her morning meal- the portly man followed. This was far more dangerous for him for, away from the other humans, I could easily destroy him and I knew it. Still, I kept my pace and thought only to get back to the sanctuary of the hotel room where my savior slept and her sable fur did guard.

However, that was not meant to be. "_Hey, you_!" he shouted to which I gave no answer. Again, I balled my fists as tightly as I could, glad that nothing be in them for anything I held currently would be dust. Instead, I ignored him and continued at a human pace towards the hotel room.

"_You with the long hair_!" he stated now closer. I was curious as to how an individual of such large proportions could keep up to any pace with me. Was this not human speed? Or was my want of destroying him so strong that I was unconsciously slowing to allow my bloodlust it's free reign?

I looked up and saw only two security cameras; one pointed to the front desk, one pointed towards the hall way I now wished so desperately to go down. For, where I was, there was no surveillance, nothing to stop me from destroying him.

I stopped. My inner demon demanded it. I could now smell the mix of spices and salts that seemed to make up his blood. "_Hey, buddy_!" he stated as he patted me upon the shoulder. I could not help but to shiver at the idea of the pleasure I would get from draining this scoundrel. Though, that was all he was. As far as I knew, he was not a thief, a rapist, or a murderer. I was a murderer and a thief, not him.

He backed off slightly but not completely. I turned to him, my inner demon jumping with glee at the idea of killing such a man though I fought mightly against the idea. The scent of his blood was delicious but no more so than most humans. I could prevent his death no matter his sins against my savior.

The greased combover upon the top of his head did not move as he smiled and looked up upon him though he was no greater than maybe four inches shorter than myself. "_That chick you were with last night, she your girl or something_?" he asked outright. Outraged was I at the very idea of anyone calling Elizabetta a baby chicken and implying she was nothing more than an object. She was not mine; I was hers. My eyes narrowed upon the portly person but I said nothing.

Uncomfortably, he loosened his collar. "_Just asking because I haven't seen a girl that hot in this area before without her being a total bitch_," he slowly stated as his voice drifted off towards the end. I smiled, showing my teeth off a bit, my face inching forward uncontrollably. I wanted his blood for his insults.

Perhaps, there were other sins he might confess. If he were a rapist or a murderer, I might be able to justify his demise. "_Then you visit here often_?" I asked as the monster in me became jubilant at the idea he might get a meal after all. However, this newly awakened side of me, the human element that Elizabetta had awoken, began to cry for yet another sin would it add to his long tally.

"_Every couple of months or so_," the portly man spoke as if transfixed. Dazzle. That is what Elizabetta called it and she was angry at me for doing as such to her. Immediately, I broke off, shaking my head to clear it. No, I would not kill this man no matter what he had done. I did not wish for another black mark against me in the eyes of God any longer.

Stunned still, the man stood there, sweating out greatly which only increased his scent. I closed my eyes. "Go. If I ever hear of you speaking in an unfavorable manner in regards to any woman –a lady or no- I will track you down and drink your blood, is that clear?" I asked him only to open my eyes to see is reaction. It was but a quick nod before he, terrified, ran back to the banquet hall where the other humans still queued for their food.

Smiling, I made my way back to the room where Elizabetta and her sable fur were. I had resisted. Despite my nearly overwhelming urge to defend Elizabetta's honor, I resisted. He would not die.

Now my thoughts turned to what I would eat. What wild game was to be had in this state? Perhaps Elizabetta may know given that she said she knew this area well. It would not hurt more than my pride to ask. However, I also needed to feed her as well.

As my hand touched the handle I heard a semi amusing sound. "_Ack_!" was the only exclaimation before a sentence was uttered. "_I'm up, Ginz_!" my savior continued. Based up what I could hear, I guessed the sable fur, no longer wishing her mistress rest, awoke her with a lick of her tongue.

I opened the door to hear more sounds as I enter. "_Oh, ugh_…" Elizabetta continued much to my worry.

"Elizabetta?" I immediately asked before coming around the slight foyer area to the main bedroom. Elizabetta sat upon the edge of her bed, her blue with margarita glasses socks that covered her feet, dangling a centimeter above the floor. My savior's head shot up at her name and she, of course, glared at me.

"_I can't believe I slept in my jeans_," she muttered before getting up to gather things.

Feeling still a bit of jubilation for my victory over my bloodlust, I smiled upon her. "_I did not think you would appreciate it if I changed you into your night clothes_," I teased. Despite the sporting nature of my words, the thought of taking her day clothing off her body made the other monster in me grin with hope. To see those half hidden rounded breasts with my own eyes, uncovered by a garment of any sort; they only were hinted at as she stretched her arms above her head, the fabric not clinging enough to her body to leave nothing to the imagination.

I looked down as she humphed. "_No, I wouldn't_!" my savior informed me. She pulled out clothing and toiletries from various bags before looking back at me, her arms filled with various ointments and fibers. "_I'm going to take a shower_," she stated before turning towards the bathroom. "_Go…catch a deer or something_," Elizabetta muttered.

I chuckled lightly. "_As you wish_," I responded which got a very curious response out of her. The lady before me's face paled only to turn a very bright red quickly. Her gaze turned to her jeans in her arms as she nearly buried her face in them and quickly made her way into the bathroom. I could think of no reason why such a phrase would get that reaction out of her but still, all was as she wished it if I could do so for she was my mate. I simply did not know of when to tell her.

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**Author's Note**: Review? Please?


	11. Chapter 11

La luce della Luna

**Disclaimer**: Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stephine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary**: The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's note**: Yes, FF is totally screwy right now. If you are seeing this, it means the fix I found worked! Feel free to email me at isabelladangelo at gmail dot com if you are having trouble uploading chapters as well to your own stories.

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_IF thou art sleeping, maiden, _

_Awake and open thy door. _

_'Tis the break of day, and we must away _

_O'er meadow, and mount, and moor. _

_Wait not to find thy slippers, _

_But come with thy naked feet; _

_We shall have to pass through the dewy grass _

_And waters wide and fleet._ –Gil Vicente (d. 1536)

The hitting of a thousand drops of water upon the generic tiled floor was too much for the other monster within me to control himself. Rather, I needed to take myself out of the situation and decided upon a small walk around the perimeter of the hotel. If nothing else, I could convince myself that it was necessary in case the Guard were near. I would hear their approach better from outside. That, and the small sable fur that Elizabetta did love so greatly would most likely have needs of the outdoors as well.

I approached the animal quickly, placing the hooked rope about the metal loop on her collar in less than a second. By the time the creature had known of what I had done, and began to bark because of my actions, I already held the colorful rope in my hand by one end, the sable fur attached to the other.

Hearing her pet's distress, Elizabetta did raise her voice through the walls though she had yet to partake in her bath –or shower as they now call it. "_What are you doing to Ginsie_?" she inquired. I was much amused by her accusation for she was correct that I had something to do with her pet's loud barking.

"_I placed her leash upon her to take her outside_," I explained. Silence lasted but a second from the water closet.

"_Just bring her back in one piece and alive_," Elizabetta answered as I heard a bit of cloth fall to the floor. I tried hard not to think of how her jeans must look falling off those curvaceous legs, dropping to a puddle upon the floor, Elizabetta standing….

Gently did I pull upon the leash to lead the dog outside. It was sunny today, a problem if I walked outside of the shadows but not if I stayed within them. A pair of leather gloves, of which I had, and a reasonable hat would be enough to cover me within the car. Perhaps a pair of sunglasses as well, given the lack of shadows in Elizabetta's vehicle. I should check if there were any cloudy areas within the vicinity of this state or a neighboring one.

The walk was a short one, simply upon one side of the building, within the shadows were demons such as myself do lurk. How odd it must be to see a loathsome beast such as myself walking a most precious pet of an angel; the goddess Diana incarnate as I did think of Elizabetta. Could the most evil upon this plane of existence even truly be redeemed? How so, when I have killed even as a human man, when I have killed a holy man of God? How many countless others have I been the last witness to their time on Earth? Why should something as soulless and deplorable amongst all creation fall for that which was so far above him? Something that should be out of his reach? Why was Elizabetta my mate? Was it only through my own faults for I knew of none that, once they had truly found their mate could go back upon such a declaration, such a feeling. Of any truth that I did know, that Elizabetta was my far better half to have found was one.

Yet, should I burden her with such information? Not now, of course, but perhaps later? If she could get use to one such as myself? Then again, how could an angel ever become comfortable with the devil? Unless, perhaps, if the devil begged for forgiveness from God himself? Even then, could even God forgive given the horrors that had been wrecked upon the world? Would not God sentence the devil to some sort of punishment? Correct the wrongs he had done in some way? If it takes another five hundred years, then so be it. I would do so just to even have a scrape of worthiness of my Elizabetta.

But could Elizabetta await that long for me? She would have to be turned –which again begged the question if she wished for such a fate- and she seemed to have no children, no family outside of the Cullen clan. Would she not wish for one that was already of the vegetarian lifestyle? How could one who is still human possibly see anything other than a murderous monster in one such as myself? Truly, never before had there been a situation like this –the Beast falling for Beauty. But I would not change into a magnificent Prince, but change the Beauty to a Beast as well.

I walked back to the room, assuming but a few minutes would Elizabetta need at her toilet and bath. Carefully, I listened to the sounds within the room to which both I and my savior had occupied the previous night. I heard bits of shuffling and the television but no water.

Quickly I opened the door and hurried the sable fur within the confines of the room only to see Elizabeth's face ashen suddenly, a towel about her head as if she were from the Near East, and reaching towards the table, too far away from her reach. I looked at her, worriedly for I had not heard nor smelt the Guard in the vicinity. Looking to her telephone as it lay upon the table; I saw it was still dark. Had her family called her already and warned of some approaching Death?

I took but a step towards her and, before I could utter a word, Elizabetta stomped her foot at nearly the same time as the door closed behind me. "_Good Lord, Gabriel_!" she stated in a raised tone as her face regain a good bit of it's color. Again her eyes narrowed into a glare towards my visage. "_I coulda turned you into charcoal_!" she stated, gesturing backwards towards the table that was still a bit too out of her reach. Ah! There was a lighter there. She would not have made it had I wished to harm her.

"_I apologize_, my dear," I said as I relaxed my posture and continued into the room. Elizabetta turned from me, revealing her lusciously long locks hidden in the hotel towel she had about her head. Haphazardly, she threw the towel to a random wall, rather wet, before going towards the mirror. Wet with her shower, her hair was not straight nor was it the dark brown I had seen earlier –the water made it look black with but a few dark red highlights interwoven at random spaces about her scalp. Her hair tumbled down her back in black waves, to the point that they might be curls with no more than the fairest amount of help. With her pale skin and dark hair, I recalled the stories of Snow White who was the most beautiful of all the land.

"_Ugh_," Elizabetta uttered as she looked in the mirror. She made a most curious face, her nose scruntched up as if she smelt something terrible –though all I could smell is that of soap, dog, and Elizabetta's scent, which, within itself was nearly overpowering. I doubted it was her dog that caused her nose to wrinkle in such a manner though I did not voice my questions.

Without a further word, my savior began to pull back her wet hair into a plait, a band of stretched cloth encircling her head; worn in a similar manner to the ladies of my day. I recall my Mother wearing her backless coif, lacing it beneath her bun as it encircled most of her head and covered her ears. Women were to cover their heads within my human life, though but the barest minimum of cloth was often used by even the most devout of women. Not so in the modern world and not so for at least two generations. What the goddess Diana before me used was but to keep her hair away from her perfect green eyes and not out of religious devotion unto God.

Yet still, I could not keep my eyes away from her form as her fingers nimbly parted and plaited her hair back into the style that ladies within my day wore. The soft waves disappeared into the plaits, which I believed should be decorated with pearls and other gems as was done in my day. The nakedness of her head as it was before me, with only a thin bit of stretched cloth encircling her head to go beneath the plait as well as the band upon the end of her rope of hair, made her look as if an unfinished masterpiece –beauty in it's own right but without the final touches. She needed the gems in her dark locks and upon her neck. My savior needed more than the simple clothes she donned and she needed more than this simple room. Though I could not yet out rightly admit my love for her since it went against all human rules, I could express it in other ways. My mate deserved all the gifts of the Earth and I would not settle for any less.

Peeking from the side rather than looking full on at her reflection in the mirror as she placed but simple faux pearl earrings in her ears –I would switch them for real ones as soon as I could find them- Elizabetta gave me a most curious look. "_What_?" she stated with irritation.

I looked to the various items in the room and realized that I could easily use a bag or three as cover to the truck if the sun was upon it. Any of these items would act well as a shield. "_I shall load your vehicle_, little treasure," I began and reached for a bag that did not look to have been touched through out the night. I wondered why she brought it in at all. Seeing as it had what looked to be denim, I recalled my own predicament in regards to clothing. "_Would you mind stopping at a clothing merchant's? I believe I need to acquire some garments if we are to be on this journey for several days_," I informed her.

My savior turned her precious green eyes to me, looking me over with but a hand upon her rounded hip. "_We can go to the mall 'cross the street if you want. I'm sure they have something there_," she stated to which I smiled. Leave it to a woman to know precisely where the merchant areas are no matter where she is located.

I loaded the vehicle with ease as it was still parked within the shadow of the building for which I was thankful. My Elizabetta, as I much suspected, was not pleased at my driving her vehicle but allowed me to do so as we headed to our next destination after I did buy some new clothing. I also bought several suitcases that should help my savior to better organize her items –I was surprised that her family had not done so in the past but again was prepared for Elizabetta's irritation at my having bought anything for her; even if one suitcase was red with black polka dots. I have seen her smiling at the item upon us entering the store at the mall as if it amused her. I learned that she thought it looked like a lady bug but she was still displeased at my insistence that she have such an item. Any attempts to prove the usefulness of such an item were meet with much resistance on her part.

So did much of the day go. We did travel to the mountains, to a place of whose name I had not heard in many years –Harper's Ferry. I saw a hint of a smile upon my angel's lips as she spoke of the place. Although no family did she have in the area, she had spent many a fall afternoon within the mountains and trails. It was clearly a place she loved.

Remembering my promise of earlier, that Elizabetta only have the best, I asked her in regards to each hotel in the area but she knew little. She had lived so close to this area that there was no need of such things and she believe that most were what she referred to as "B & Bs" -bed and breakfast establishments. Those would not be good enough. I was unsure of myself in the close quarters of a bed and breakfast establishment for, although being around Elizabetta was getting easier, a new smell may not be as grand. It would be easier in a hotel –where humans did not interact as much as they did at an inn- for me. There was also that the rooms tended to be better at the higher quality hotels though none seemed to exist here. The strange little town looked not much changed from the days when I entered this country if not long before then.

Though not sunny, the branches of the trees and the curvature of the mountain provided enough shade that I may join Elizabetta on a walk later, if she so wished. I believe the sable fur would be enough of an excuse and that the Guard was still after us. My only reassurance was within this Alice for she did reiterate upon the phone that she was looking out for us.

"_The Guard won't come after you yet. They aren't sure if you are telling the truth or not and think that you and Elizabeth are more dangerous than you really are, sort of_," the vampire witch informed me in a rather cheerful voice. "_They are planning a mission but don't worry. It won't work. Elizabeth has a much better plan_," she continued. It was moments later than Elizabetta took the phone and smiled as she talked to her clan.

I watched her carefully; not so much her words –or even their words- but the tones and the expressions that Elizabetta made when speaking with them. It had already been clear to me that she loved them, that she had no wish disappoint the leader of the clan, but what I also saw was the joy she had in talking to Alice, the worry when she talked to Esme, and the amusement when she talked to some of the others. The clan truly was her family. It was as if, in these few minutes that she spoke to them, all her burdens were lifted –even when spoke of them.

When she closed the phone, my savior's face fell slightly. I doubt she even realized how she frowned at the now silent phone as she placed it in the cup holder. Wishing above all else to see a bit of the smile that was present upon her lips just seconds before as she spoke with Esme, I decided to ask Elizabetta more about them.

"_Tell me of them_," I more stated than asked. I felt the goddess's eyes upon me instantly.

"_What_?" she said curiously as she reached back to pet the ball of fur in the back seat.

"_Describe them to me. I have only met Edward, none of the others_," I informed her. If she thought upon her family, if she thought upon what they looked like, perhaps that would again bring the smile to her lips and the laughter to her voice?

Biting her bottom lip, my angel looked upon me. She was silent for a minute before looking down at her porcelain hands. I thought she would not answer, and I did not press, when she spoke in but a whisper. "_Carlisle is about the same height as you. His blonde hair is short and I think it's only because he cut it sometime in the 19__th__ century but I haven't bothered to ask yet_," Elizabetta stated, her voice coming out stronger as she continued.

"_He's a doctor and he's overly generous_," she continued, annoyance coloring her tone. I suppose that he must try to place gifts upon her as well only to have them either grudgingly accepted or outright rejected; yet, I could still hear the love in her voice.

"_He's married to Esme_," my angel spoke, looking up at me. I took but a glimpse of her as I knew to look too long would allow me to get lost in her eyes. I needed to allow her time to know more of me before I even considered declaring my love of her. Still, I could not completely ignore my own needs either. I needed to see those emerald green eyes surrounded by that ivory soft skin, the small button nose betwixt the eyes she had and the lips dipped in rouge. I needed to see the dark hair, now dried, framing the very edges of her face as it was pulled back into the plait. I needed to see my mate and know that this was not but the voice of an imaginary angel in my head; that she was real.

"_Esme is thin but she's not petite_," Elizabetta continued once I voiced a simple gutterly "um hm" as I had heard many humans do before. It seemed to have encouraged my little treasure enough for she turned slightly in her seat towards me, playing with her bracelet upon her right wrist as she did so. "_Her hair is sort of a buttery brown and wavy. Even though she's younger than me physically, she reminds me of my Mom_," my angel stated sadly.

Not wishing for to think upon those things that may cause her pain, I thought upon a way for her to continue to tell me about her family. "_Do you have a picture of them_?" I said, hoping to keep her upon the subject but also to see a smile upon her face. Though she had been looking upon her hands once again, Elizabetta suddenly looked up and smiled a bit.

"_Oh, yeah_!" she stated as if she remembered something that brought her joy. Turning so she was nearly facing the pup, she pulled upon a tie dyed bookbag –as I was told earlier it was called- that had many key chains upon the zippers and smelt of Elizabetta, pencils, and plastic.

With a thump, it ended up upon her lap. My savior quickly opened one compartment, for this bookbag had many, and pulled out her black laptop that I had seen in the hotel earlier. Throwing the obviously heavy bookbag to her feet, she opened the laptop and quickly started the item up muttering about how she needed a car charger for the computer if we were to spend so much time in it. It took but a few minutes for her to find what she wanted.

"_This picture was taken a couple of years ago, I think, but you can see everyone_," she stated as she turned the screen so I might look at it as well. I quickly noticed seven individuals in the clan and zeroed in, automatically, upon my old acquaintance of Edward. He stood near a man close in height but clearly older with blond hair. Given the smaller women upon the other side, with light brown hair, I guessed them to be Carlisle and Esme. I knew not of who the others were but knew that my Elizabetta would tell me.

Seeing my look upon the laptop screen, Elizabetta began to point to various vampires in the picture –it was abundantly clear that all were vampires which made the case of Elizabetta even more curious-, a smile upon her lips. "_The tall blond girl is Rosalie. She doesn't like me much_," she stated almost fondly which I found odd. The woman she pointed to was as beautiful as she must be deadly. She was to the aurora as Elizabetta was to the evening sky. But it was the goddess Diana incarnate that I found the more beautiful for my Elizabetta not only possessed beauty in form but in mind as well. Though I did not know this Rosalie, I could not think of any one as being more lovely for who but an angel would save a demon from the fires of Hell?

"_Or, I guess, she doesn't like humans much_," my angel continued with a hint of laughter in her voice. "_She wants to be human again so for a human to know that vampires exist really makes her angry_." At this, Elizabetta looked up, a smile upon her lips similar to the one she wore upon speaking on the phone to her family. I intended to keep it there and not inquire further upon this Rosalie.

"_The tall man next to her with the blond hair? Is that her mate_?" I asked non-chalantly as possible. I only wished to Elizabetta talking upon things that clearly made her happy. She should not spend a single minute in worry or sadness.

The sound I heard next shocked me for its beauty. It was higher than I expected it to be but like a mix of a babbling brook and bells; my savior laughed. "_No, that's Jasper_," she stated. Though I needed no reminder of who he was, Elizabetta still hedged, "_Your 'Southern general'_?"

My face fell, I was sure, as I turned to look towards the road and away from the computer. So he was the one that had threatened to kill me, that I had spoken too, that so clearly wished to protect my mate. Though I said nothing, Elizabetta continued.

"_He's married to Alice_," she said, pointing to a small girl who looked more like a figurine in comparison to the others than a vampire. She was far smaller than I expected and looked no more harmful than the dog that slumpered behind me was, despite being a vampire. Perhaps the Southern General had taken it upon himself to protect small creatures, helpless ones? Though Elizabetta was hardly helpless and I doubt this…fairy witch was helpless either. She was a vampire after all.

"_He just pretends to be Rose's twin_," Elizabetta stated before shrugging. "_It makes life easier_."

"_Then the one more similar to Goliath is mate to Rose_?" I asked, seeing the large brute of a vampire upon the other side of the blond woman. Again, Elizabetta laughed and I wished to know the secret as to how to make her do so again for I knew not of what she found humorous.

"_That's Emmett. He's mostly harmless_," she stated in a loving, almost as if indulgent way –which was odd for what reason would a human be indulgent to a vampire? "_He's strong, of course_," she continued. "_But he's more interested in playing pranks and with Miss Ginsie than anything else_."

This surprised me –not that the beast of a man was gentle in Elizabetta's eyes, but that he played with the sable fur behind us without incident. "_The…Ginsie does not mind him?"_ I asked curiously_._

"_Oh no_," Elizabetta spoke, shaking her head. I noticed a few small stray hairs bounce about her head, framing her face and accenting her creamy skin more perfectly. "_Ginsie is fine around all of the Cullens_," she stated. "_But with Emmett, he'll play with her and buy her new toys, try to teach her tricks_," she stated with a shrug. As if this was a normal occurrence! I had thought the sable fur had some presence of mind to know of the danger which a vampire was but it seems that it was only me and not my vampire nature that caused her discontentment. The pup was not taking cues from her mistress; she was as crazy as her mistress for what creatures could be near a predator such as myself and be as comfortable as they were? Elizabetta clearly held no fear of me and her pup slept but within a distance that I had only to reach for her.

Taking no notice of my changed mood –or pretending not to-, Elizabetta continued with explaining about her family. She moved a creamy white finger towards the small one again - I was surprised that the witch was so tiny- and spoke thusly of her, "_Alice is annoying but sweet. It's hard not to love her._"

"_The fairy witch bothers many_?" I asked. Elizabetta nodded in response.

"_It's an off day if she isn't annoying someone. Her favorite game to annoy Edward, I think. If she's not annoying him or anyone else, there's something wrong_," my savior continued. I could not help but smile at that. The witch did seem to have such a personality and an ability that she could be both loving and irritating at the same time. But to hear of the interactions as Elizabetta's words and tones described them; this was truly a family. Far beyond their common love for the human at my side, it sounded as if they truly loved one another. Was this possible? With a diet of animals, could it be that love beyond that of a mate was possible for monsters such as us?

Upon reaching our destination, tucked well within the mountains, Elizabetta gave me further directions to a Visitor Center. It was a mere six dollars to enter the park land the Visitor Center sat upon which I easily handed over to the startled lady. My savior had attempted to hand me a crumbled up five and one that she pulled from her black leather wallet but I refused to even acknowledge her offer. Upon paying the lady and driving to the open parking lot, Elizabetta gave me a grumbled "_Thank You_" as she placed her own bills back. She would not have want of anything nor have need to pay for a single item for not only was she in my care –away from those that loved her- but I loved her as well. Anything I owned was hers though I had no way to tell her this as of yet.

Though the day was sunny, I saw enough shadow that, should I pull to the front, I would be able to walk into the Visitor Center without any difficulty. There was also a cloud overhead that currently blocked the sun but I could not count on a single cloud to hide my form from the sun's rays for long. Thinking about how quickly I should enter and come back, I heard the click of Elizabetta's seatbelt followed by a sigh. Turning, I looked to her curiously.

"_I'll go in and get brochures for all hotels to see what they have. It's too bad they don't have Wi-Fi yet_," she muttered before looking back at her pup. "_Wanna get out, girl_?" she asked the sable fur before I could form a question.

"_I should go in_," I began to tell her before Elizabetta's green eyes met my red ones. She shook her head at me.

"_Too much of a risk. Just hang out for a second and I promise I'll be back_," she stated as she got out. The slightest hint of a smile played on her lips as she helped her sable fur from out of the confines of the vehicle, wrapping the leash tightly about her wrist. "_It is my truck after all_," she stated almost mockingly.

It went against the newly awakened man in me; to allow a lady to go into any place without escort. But what could I do? The shadows were thin were they existed. Had we come ten minutes prior, perhaps I could go in as well. Elizabetta was right; it was too much of a risk and I could not allow my needs to watch out for my mate at all times –any irrational need- to outweigh the risk to all our kind. Elizabetta would not like it if her family was placed at risk.

The minute and a half she was inside –she tied the pup up outside for that time- was grueling. I could not see her and looked to the phone many times; relying too heavily upon the uncertain accuracy of the pixie witch's visions to my tastes but also trying to remind myself that the Guard also could not come any way but this. They would not risk exposure.

Still, it made no matter to me nor to the human inside me nor to any of my demons. The one whose blood smell still lingered within this space, the one whose body I wished so badly to simply touch, the one who I should defend and love with all my being was in a place I could not go. Perhaps that was for the best in a way –perhaps that was what she should do. Yet, what place was there that vampires did not exist? She was safer with either myself or her clan.

Relief only washed over me when came back out, her arms filled with various pamphlets, each one more colorful and mostly likely more boastful than the next. I would call and discover which place would be best, if Elizabetta would allow it. Perhaps if I set her to walk around this area with her sable fur as I called for reservations, my savior would not mind as much.

She opened the back door first, awaiting the pup to enter the vehicle. The sable fur took to her seat and promptly growled at me, as well as let off a couple of half hearted barks. "_Hush, Ginz_," Elizabetta admonished her without much interest before handing over the various papers.

"_There are a ton of old inns and stuff. I really haven't ever stayed over night here before so I don't know if any of them allow dogs or not or what is good but cheap_," she stated. I took the offered brochures but stopped Elizabetta as she parted her red lips to speak more.

"_I will call each of these places if you would like to walk around a bit? I am sure your Ginsie would appreciate a longer walk here_," I informed her. I could see her easily in this open space and the grassland that surrounded it. Rather than argue with me, as I much expected, Elizabetta's attention turned towards a field to the left of us, covered in shade about 20 or so parking spaces down.

"_You don't mind_?" she asked as if this task was some bothersome thing. I smiled softly at her and, once more, picked up her hand gently to place it at my lips.

"_I will drive closer to the shaded grove if you wish to walk around th_ere," I informed her. Biting upon her bottom lip, my dearest angel nodded. Within another minute, she was back outside of the car but well within my visual range with the vehicle now parked in a thicker shaded spot; her pup at her side as she walked.

As I watched Elizabetta, I called each inn to see if there was any room and if they allowed pets. Rooms were available as if a glut on the market but ones that allowed pets were far more scarce. In way, I was glad for many of the inns were nothing more than Bed and Breakfast stops –small, confined houses to which man people would be up and about. I wished for a hotel that may allow for greater privacy.

The only place I was able to see from the brochures Elizabetta handed me that qualified for both my needs as well as allowed pets was a hotel out away from the heart of the town called the Quality Hotel. I did not understand what was quality of it for the rooms looked generic at best in comparison to the more antique styles upon the other brochures. I called it though and reserved a room. They allowed pets for an extra $50 service fee per a night. I cared little of such a thing and would not mention it to Elizabetta. All she would need to know is that her sable fur was welcomed.

I looked out to my dearest treasure upon receiving confirmation of the reservation. She was happily talking to her sable fur, patting her hands against her legs in a rapid motion that made the dog jump about wildly. This is what I wanted to see. My savior content and happy.

A glance towards me in question from her and I nodded. All frivolity was lost from her being as she walked back to the car and placed the dog inside before, once more, taking her seat. "_Did ya get reservations_?" she asked quickly as I started her vehicle again.

"_Yes, the Quality Hotel accepts pets and is near here_," I informed her. Elizabetta nodded.

"_How much_?" she asked as she pulled out her wallet once more. This time, I was prepared.

"_For you, free_," I informed her as nonchalantly as possible. It did not work. I could feel the glare before it was even fully upon my form. Not moving, I continued to look straight ahead upon the road.

"_How much, Gabriel_?" Elizabetta demanded. Would there be a time when it was no longer odd to hear my name upon this angel's lips?

"_Nothing_, my dear," I told her.

"_Gabriel_," her voice did raise as she stated my name in warning. It mattered little; to hear my name from her lips no matter the tone was joy enough for me.

"_You have wish to argue over this? You have no need to spend money upon those things that are basic necessities. I shall cover them for it is because of me that you have need to run from the Guard_," I informed her fully.

Elizabetta huffed and crossed her arms in her seat; allowing me to earn yet another growl from behind me. "_You can't pay for everything, Gabriel_," she muttered. I smiled. I could.

We arrived at the hotel quickly for it was just down the road. I helped Elizabetta to carry in the bags she claimed she needed –I still did not comprehend why she needed so many for a single night when she would be mostly sleeping- and realized that it was only mid day at best. We still had many hours until night would fall and my mate would have any want of sleep. So, Elizabetta suggested a run to the town and various sites.

The town itself was quite nice and we did manage to stay within the shade when Elizabetta wished to walk around. She knew her way around quite well and explained once more that she, along with her pet, came often during the fall. It was no wonder that my savior wished to come to this part of the world when the Guard were upon us –she truly did know this place well.

Many establishments had places to eat outside. Though the day was not warm, it was not overly cool either and Elizabetta insisted upon eating in the outdoors due to Miss Ginsie. The pup could stay with us if we sat upon a balcony or porch but not if we went inside so Elizabetta may eat. The compromise was that Elizabetta would allow me to pay if we stayed outside. I would pay either way but this way would be without complaint so I gladly took it. The restaurant Elizabetta wished to eat at gave the pup a small bowl of water and the waitress did seem to genuinely like the pup. I gave her an extra tip for being kind to both my mate and the creature my mate loved so dearly.

Rather than wishing to go back upon the setting of the sun –I was grateful when it finally slipped behind the mountains- Elizabetta seemed to long to stay a bit more. It took a bit but I managed to get out of her that she wished to go on a ghost tour of sorts and take pictures of the graveyards to see if any strange things may appear. I told her I was the most ghastly thing that she would see with her camera but my beloved angel would have none of that. She seemed pleased to go about one of the graveyards in the dark, aimlessly taking photos of whatever she fancied. I saw no harm in it as I could see her easily in the moonlight.

Late was the hour we did return. So late that Elizabetta curled up upon her bed and once more fell asleep in her day clothing. Curious as to whether I should wake her or not –seeing as she did not seem pleased this morning to be in her day clothing- I moved to gently press upon her shoulder.

"Elizabetta?" I whispered. I received a wordless groan that I took to meant go away.

"_Do you wish to sleep in your day clothing_?" I asked her. If I did receive a similar answer, I would let her be. If not, I would try to wake her for her own benefit.

Rather than groan, she sighed and sat up, glared at me, and proceeded to the bathroom with a pile of cloth and various toiletries. I tried not to listen, as hard as it was. For no wish had I to hear the clothing falling to the floor. The hit of metal buttons from her jeans against the tiles, the scrap of fabric against fabric, the sliding of material against the tiles; I searched in vain for something, anything, to distract me. All I could find was the most Holy Bible.

In great hast, I picked up the paperback book that would serve as this demon's distraction. I could not allow the monster of lust that lurked inside me to overtake my sense. The human side of me would not allow it. It was too soon. She was too human. I would kill her if I tried to satisfy my carnal desires. Lust and Bloodlust were too lost, too mixed up in my own head.

I flipped through the book at random, hoping for anything to distract me from hearing her in the next room, through but one poorly insulated wall. The first story I came across was that of Susanna in which the elders spy on her as she bathed. It was too close to what I was doing –though Elizabetta knew well that I was here- for me to read. I flipped through the Holy book, some part of me afraid that my fingers would turn to ashes for touching it, and tried to find another story in which to read. I turned to Proverbs only to find it filled with imagery of what I now felt. "Do not lust in your heart for her beauty, and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes," the passage began. I closed the book only to look across the way. The sable fur laid on the bed across from me stared at me. Still I could hear the scrap of fabric against that porcelain skin…

I turned my attention to the television for that would provide noise as well as a distraction. Carefully, I placed the Holy Book back in its place, before turning my attention to the dark box inside the handsome armoire. Standing before it, I looked for a button or a knob of some sort, as all these boxes seemed to have though I had not used a television much in the past decade or so. They were always on in any coffee house or internet café I might frequent.

This box did not seem to have one. I saw the red light upon the bottom left corner but it was not a button. There wasn't a button upon the face of the television that I could see. Perhaps it was behind it somewhere?

When Elizabetta emerged from the bathroom, I stood upon the middle of the room with the large black box in my arms. I assume the television would be much to heavy for a human to hold and must look awkward to her eyes for she immediately narrowed her eyes upon my form.

"_What are you doin'_?" she asked, tightening the belt of her robe about her waist.

"_I could not find the knob in which to turn it on_," I informed her, curious as to what she must think I was doing. Elizabetta mouthed the word "_What_?" before shaking her head, a smile gracing her lips again.

"_Put the TV back, Gabriel_," she muttered as she went towards the nightstand that was between her bed and my own. I did as she asked, curious as to what she might do about turning the television. Did she not wish to watch it? Was she truly that tired? Now that she was out of the bathroom, I did not believe I had reason to distract myself except that she would sleep soon and bring forth another round of much necessary distractions.

"_When is the last time you actually dealt with a TV_?" she asked as I turned to face her. Elizabetta pointed a long black object towards me, as if some sort of magic wand with many colorful buttons. I was curious as to the object's use and realized I had seen something akin to it before. It was a remote control. But did not the television have to be on for it to work?

"_They have them in the cafés_," I answered, unwilling to give a date. My savior pointed the remote control in such a manner that it was to the side of me. As I moved to the opposite direction, I heard a click and ringing noise nearly a half second after she placed her fingers upon a button. Turning, I saw an image upon the screen followed by sound coming out of the box soon after. It was the news but I was still startled. Had the technology advanced as such that no one had any need to leave the confines of their chair ever?

"_They stopped making TV's with knobs sometime in the 1980's, I think_," Elizabetta told me, clearly much amused as she sat upon the edge of her bed. I grimaced slightly as I took to my own seat for much of the night; the bed across from Elizabetta. I held out my hand for the remote so I might place it back upon the night stand.

Rather than handing it back, Elizabetta smiled and held it out so I might see it as if she wished to show me something. "_You can have the TV on while I sleep. It won't bother me at this volume. Just don't change it from that, okay_?" she asked. I looked at her curiously.

"_You are sure_?" I asked. My angel nodded in response.

"_Much lower and the ringing sounds of the electricity through the tube bothers me but the voices on the TV or music tends to cancel it out pretty well,"_ she informed me. I did not think humans, particularly those that were no longer children, could hear such tones.

Pointing to the buttons, Elizabetta explained how to change channels and how to turn the television off if I wished. Before I could thank her, she laid down beneath her blankets, reaching up only to turn off the lantern that I turned off for her to darken the room. As my hand touched hers in that instant, I could feel her warmth once more and realized that even with the distraction of the television; this night would be long indeed with but a few feet between myself and my mate in this room. As she fell into her rhythm of slumber, curled within the clean sheets and blankets, her sable fur at her feet, Elizabetta again looked to be the picture of innocence. The curves of her body, the thin membranes of cotton were all that hid that silken flesh.

I turned my head away and realized that, the next time we are to stay somewhere, I would have need to see if they have a suite of some sort, the biggest of rooms available, for this –for her to be so close in the night, my goddess of the Moon was to risk temptation of my demons. The further she was from lust and bloodlust, the safer Elizabetta would be as she slept. I could not allow harm to come to her, and particularly, from me.

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**Author's Note:** I apologize if it seems a bit rushed at the end. Gabriel wouldn't hush and Elizabeth wanted to sleep! And we all known about Grumpy Lizzie! Review please, or I'll send Grumpy Aunt Sissy after you! ;-)


	12. Chapter 12

La Luce della Luna

**Disclaimer:** Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stepheine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary:** The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's Note:** ...is it safe to post? What is going on? FF and LJ are BOTH acting up. I get why LJ is having issues -DoS attacks left and right but what is wrong with FF? *sigh* Well, I at least hope you like this one. It's a bit silly since it contains the grocery store scene.

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_And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.__ –Isaiah 22: 13_

I was paying far more attention to humans and their gadgets than I had previously, or, truly, ever before in my life. No longer did I let the odd things I had seen humans do –or, rather, this specific human, Elizabetta- without being enraptured by the curiosity of it. Though my focus was upon Elizabetta, I watched the other humans more closely as well. Things Elizabetta took for granted I examined with a critical eye for I was both curious and apprehensive about much when it came to her. For instance, the contraption known as the microwave –something I had seen her and many other humans use- was not something I had ever had direct contact with before.

Of them, I knew; but not of how they work or what they did, precisely, other than heat things quickly. I thought they were simply a more convenient toaster oven yet I saw no metal bars to be heated, nothing other than plastic and a small bit of a metal grid existed inside the device that smelt of a thousand human meals. Upon my inspection of it as we were to leave Harper's Ferry, Elizabetta shook her head.

"_Not that I think it would hurt you_," she began with a slight shake of her head. Her dark hair rearranged itself upon her head slightly as she did so, making a few loose strands dance about, as she had no more than her _headband_ –as I learned they were called- about her head. "_But you might not want to do that, Gabriel_," she finished with a queer look about her face.

"_How does it heat if not through coils_?" I asked of Elizabetta, looking upon my beautiful mate. If she uses the object so much, she must certainly understand some of how it works for I have seen her work with her laptop and she had explained it's interworkings easily. Would she not understand other such things? I only had bothered to read of things that would be of use to me –at the present moment or showed some promise- a microwave was not among them.

Elizabetta mouthed the word "_coils_" in confusion before some sort of recognition dawned upon her. She bit her bottom lip to keep all amusement in before she answered. "_It's not like an electric oven, Gabriel_," she stated before going back about her work. She was packing and I was not allowed to help per her instruction. Seeing as the Guard was not near and that nothing within here would cause harm, I let the lady pack at her leisure.

"_Then how_?" I asked a bit too demandingly. I gave her an apologetic smile upon her icy glare. Elizabetta did pause, however, in her packing before she looked up and to the right before further giving any explanation. "_You know about EMF waves, right_?" she asked.

I nodded in answer for, indeed, had I heard of electromagnetic frequency waves. They were discovered but two centuries ago and many have come to know that with them, we might see things previously invisible to the human eye or use such waves for communication depending upon such frequency. Before I could fully answer, my Elizabetta continued on whilst sitting up on the bed where her sable fur did lay, placing her hand upon the creature's head in a gentle way.

"_Well, microwaves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum and they pass through food, exciting the atomic particles, causing it to heat up…I think_," she stated, her voice unsure towards the end.

I was still rather confused on how it worked. "_How_ _does the device create these waves_?" I asked to which I earned yet another exasperated sigh.

My little treasure threw her arms to the air in a further move to show her exasperation –if it was just for me or more for the entire situation we found ourselves in, I knew not- and moved slightly, looking towards where her computer lay. "_I don't know, Gabriel_," she muttered. "_Maybe it's alien technology_," she continued, clearly distracted by more than just her pup and her laptop given its distance from her.

"_Alien_?" I asked to gain further understanding –not only of the machine- but also of Elizabetta. For she knew much but acted far differently around different people. She shown little in the way towards me of fear but shown me great frustration –yet, just this morning, she seemed to be quite taken back by a man with a sinister smile. So much, that she walked a bit closer to me and forced myself between her and the man. I asked her why later only to receive a "_He was creepy_" as an answer.

Elizabetta shrugged before patting her sable fur upon its head again prior to standing. "_Aliens or maybe it's little elves like the ones that steal all my socks_," she said unto me as she went towards the laptop she had been staring at but a moment ago. Her pup loyally followed behind her.

"_Elves_?" I asked in great confusion. What would such creatures of old mythology have to do with microwaves or stockings? I moved closer to where my little treasure had now taken up her position before her laptop. She pulled it from the desk so that she may sit upon the bed whilst typing upon it.

Seeing me, Elizabetta looked up. Her left hand went to her pup who had placed herself upon the bed, next to her mistress, so that the creature was between myself and the human we both loved. However, it was my mate's vibrant green eyes that sparkled. A hint of a smile drew itself across her face when she saw my confusion.

"_Yes, elves_," she stated as if the statement was quite obvious. Looking back down as she began to type, my Elizabetta continued to speak; "_After all if vampires and werewolves exist, other mythological creatures should exist as well._"

I did suppose that her statement was logical though it confounded me. For I did exist, her family did exist, I knew well that the children of the moon and seen their affects early on in my existence though not upon me; so why is it so easy to dispel beliefs in other creatures from folklore and the old myths? Did Cyclops exist as well? Still, none of this did matter given I still had no comprehension as to why elves had anything to do with socks or aliens with microwaves.

Wishing much to know of how her mind worked, I lowered myself to her level, gaining a far more curious glance from the lady before me. "_But what to do elves have to do with microwaves_?" I asked.

Her brow knitted before another smile graced slightly about her face. "_Well, with dryers, the constant turning of the center wheel causes a wormhole to open and the elves live on the other side of the wormhole_," she began. This made little sense to me and Elizabetta must have seen for she stopped. "_You don't know what a wormhole is, do you_?" she asked to which I answered "_No_". I had no fear of telling her that I did not comprehend her use of language. Very often, her use of language was of the modern colloquials and words that would fall in and out of favor quickly; Perhaps a _wormhole _was one of them.

She sighed but placed the laptop to her unoccupied side before using her hands in which to answer. My Elizabetta, very similar in manner to a good Italian woman, gestured with her hands often. She made the shape of a circle with her forefingers and thumbs. "_A wormhole is a rift in the space time continuum. It's probably what I came through,_" she more muttered towards the end. I found it odd that she still held to her story that she was not of this world, not of this time, despite seeing what she had in Dunkirk, though I made no mention of it. I had already come to terms with my belief that she was mad; if she was then it was but a simple issue for she did not act out in any other way nor did her beliefs cause harm to others, what point was there in making her see truth if it only would cause her pain?

I stood as she explained. "_So elves live in a different time_?" I asked without any belief. I knew she was attempting to make a joke –one I was clearly ruining- but I also wished to know of how she thought it to be amusing.

With her mouth slightly agape and looking upon my form as if I were not something she had seen before –and most crudely put together- she stopped for a moment, her hands still before her. Elizabetta took a full two seconds before shaking her head and sighing whilst pulling again at her laptop. "_No, Gabriel_," she muttered as she typed upon her computer. Thinking I had lost the lady in conversation again, I attempted to have her speak once more.

"_Please, explain_," I begged of her lightly. Her reaction was not what I expected. My savior flipped her laptop around and pointed to a page. Upon the page it stated "_The top ten reasons socks disappear from the dryer_". Number one was _aliens_ and the second was _Christmas Elves_. She pointed to them. "_It's modern folklore. I guess you've never done laundry in the modern age?_" my mate asked. I answered as I read.

"_No, never," _for what reason would I have ever have done laundry? It was a women's work, that of a serving woman –a laundress- while I was still human and what reason would I have for clean clothing now when I would simply take the clothes of the animal I had drunk from? Though, I do suppose the animals I was to now drink from would no longer afford me that luxury. I would now need to buy clothing as I did the other day and, to keep them, I would need to wash them. Perhaps I should just buy new clothing and throw away those that were in need of cleaning? It did not suit me to do what was still serving women's work.

"_Never?_" Elizabetta asked with a rather disgusted look about her face though I did not comprehend it. Before I could infer her disgust's origin, she continued. "_Everyone loses a sock in the dryer. So, people say elves steal them. Because of that, some people have come up with very complicated ways of how the elves got into the dryer in the first place to steal the single sock,_" she stated as explanation.

"_Why does one sock disappear?_" I asked. Elizabetta sighed in exasperation.

"_Ahdunno, Gabriel! That's why there are the folklore tales,_" she responded. I continued to read and thought upon my original question.

"_But what does this have to do with microwaves?_" I inquired as I read, taking her laptop from her. Elizabetta did look to faint as she quickly collapsed backward onto the bed and groaned. I almost dropped her computer but saw her sable fur did not look alarmed. Upon looking at Elizabetta's face –what I could of it for her arm covered her- I realized she was not faint but further exasperated.

"_Ahdunno, look it up_!" she muttered before reaching for the remote control near her upon the nightstand.

Looking at the computer I had in my hands, I sat upon the bed opposite of my mate and did as she instructed. While Elizabetta turned on the television and flipped through its many channels, I looked to the internet for my answers to my many questions. It was not the way I typically used the device –for the device was quite useful for its police scanners and news reports so that I might hunt my next prey- but I understood that it had many other uses as well.

The various pages that I went to through links upon the screen were of little help. I had no concept of what "_dielectric heating_" was and looking it up in my native tongue did not help either. So, instead, I thought upon what my mate had said earlier regarding wormholes. Could not a similar mythology exist for these microwave contraptions? Typing in "_wormhole_" proved more fruitful upon the laptop. Though much of the complexity was still far beyond me, the basic concept was understandable enough. It was a shortcut to somewhere else, anywhere else, that could exist.

Thinking upon what place may cause heat so great to radiate through my lady's human food in which it was to cook her meals, I could think only a few hot enough that a small wormhole may cook food quickly. The sun and Hell. To one, did it warm us and expose me for the demon I was; to the other would I go when my time upon this purgatorial plane was surely done. The thought that my Elizabetta, my mate and savior, was so close to Hell by her simple needs of food infuriated me. Though I knew that it was not the true way the microwave worked –only the construct of my imagination- it was the thought that aroused my anger.

Placing in the computer device aside, I looked upon my savior's frame. She now sat, legs crossed, upon the bed, watching some meaningless chatter upon the television screen, her hair falling down to the small of her back. A hint of her pale skin shown through the gap between her shirt and black denim jeans she wore. The contrast of the black against the pale ivory skin was stunning and wished to see more of it.

Feeling my stare, no doubt, she turned to me with yet another sigh. I wished to hear her have a different type of sigh; my body above her as I reclaimed her succulent pink lips, my hands upon her naked flesh. "_What_?" she muttered, interrupting my lustful thoughts.

"_How do humans normally eat when they travel_?" I asked quickly for it was to be the question I wished to ask originally. I believed restaurants, as I had already seen, were quite normal but was it but the microwave, the morning offerings of breakfast, or a restaurant.

The goddess Diana incarnate opened her mouth but clearly changed her mind at the last second before she spoke, "_Either room service, bring something from the grocery store, or a restaurant like we went to yesterday, why_?" I had heard of these _grocery stores_ –markets- but I had not considered room service believing it something of only the finer hotels until Elizabetta spoke of it.

"_Actually_," she muttered as she sat straighter, "_A grocery store wouldn't be a bad idea. I could grab some snacks that didn't consist of gummy worms_."

Given that we were to repack her vehicle and to be on our way, a trip to the market seemed but a small stop upon the way. Again, Elizabetta attempted to drive to which I would not allow. She was a lady and should be treated as such. When we stopped for gas, she began to get out of the vehicle to pay for it, which I also would not allow. I warned her, upon our coming into the parking lot before the market –which was near our next hotel- that this, also, would I not let her pay for.

"_It's human food, Gabe. They don't sell blood in there. It's not of any use for you,_" she stated while her arms folded across her chest, hiding her curves from my view. I liked it not but also felt the need to tame the lustful demon that demanded such a view as well. Above all, Elizabetta was my savior and was to be treated as such; not like some common strumpet who was meant to be viewed with a price

"_And if the Guard should come_?" I began to which she rolled her eyes. Before she might give a good retort, I continued. "_Or if some other monster lurks within the store? And what of_," I asked but was quickly interrupted as my savior opened the door.

"_Fine, whatever_," she muttered unhappily. Though I was joyful at having won the argument to pay for her needs, I was not pleased at the look of unhappiness about her.

Before closing her door, however, my little treasure's expression softened upon seeing her sable fur within the backseat. The pup looked up with its head tilted to an angle in question as our mistress spoke, "_Be good. Protect the truck_." I chuckled lightly as I went about the vehicle to take Elizabetta's arm like a gentleman, thinking upon how such a small creature would be little match for even the weakest of men. The pup was hardly large enough to cause much more damage than the loss of a finger, if that, to a human.

As I moved to take my place at my savior's side, where I could more easily protect her, she, rather than waiting or even slowing, went quickly up to the doors of the establishment and grabbed a wheeled basket. Once the thing was within her hands, Elizabetta turned to me and sighed. "_Let's go in_," she muttered before quickly stopping within the door way, the basket barely in, whilst she pulled at a handkerchief supplied at the entrance. She rubbed the handle of the basket down with it and then used another upon her hands. I knitted my brow in confusion for I did not recall seeing such a ceremony before when entering the market.

With but a few more steps in, I asked Elizabetta, "_Why did you use the handkerchief upon the handle_?" She turned and looked upon my visage with another of her peculiar looks. This one I understood to mean "_What_?" despite her lack of vocalization.

"_It's an antibacterial wipe. Who knows who last was pushing this around_?" she stated in a rhetorical manner. A wipe. I had heard of them.

We entered into an area of the market that was somewhat open but lined with boxes stacked in colorful arrangements to one side and many flora stands to the other. Beyond the many lined stalls and the flora could I see the fruits and vegetables in large bins, though none of those are what caught my eye. Elizabetta stood before me, her hands upon the basket, looking around the market with a discerning eye. As I walked next to her, she began to push her basket towards the fruits and vegetables and away from the colorful boxes and other small items that promised much savings if bought here.

This market was so terribly different than in my day. Though I recall little of my human life, I do recall following one of the older maids to the market one day to purchase food. Venders lined the town streets, shouting their various chants of how their meat was the best or their apples were the finest in the land. Here, there was no screaming, no cries for savings, just brightly colored papers declaring much the same whilst the overhead speakers played Bach lightly as various humans waited near the noisy registers for the customers to come. There were very few people in the store from what I could hear and smell. Elizabetta's scent was what filled my nostrils but I had become desensitized to it since it was all I had smelt for the past few days. It was easy to ignore the hunger pains as they were not fierce. My lust still was far beyond my bloodlust as of yet as I gazed upon how the ribbon containing my savior's hair fell just above the small of her back.

Distracting myself, I tried to smell what else was within the market and was assailed with a thousand scents. Paper, plastic, cleaners, and that of the floral department as well as many others; this market was nothing of what it had been in my day and I was curious of how it was set. Taking but a step towards the colorful boxes, I noticed one of them had the similar logos to something Elizabetta had called a coke. I grabbed it and brought it to her, careful not to rip the cardboard. My little treasure looked at it with a careful eye before turning her brilliant green eyes upon me. "_What do you need that for_?" she asked me as I held the box.

I raised my brow in question. "_Do you not drink this_?" I asked of her. A small smile graced her lips for the briefest of seconds.

"_The red one, not the gray. The gray one I'm allergic too_," she stated in explanation. At a humanly quick pace, I placed the gray box back upon the stack of boxes and picked up the red one. I was pleasantly surprised to see that not all the old ways were gone; during my human life all things were represented in pictures and colors to discern one from the other since many could not read. I was fortunate in that regard. Being of a noble family, it was expected that I learned my letters in Italian and Latin at an early age. To my mother and father do I owe much debt in that regard for I saw many of my kind in my early days attempt to learn tongues they knew not and could not read nor write in any.

As I brought the red one back, I saw that Elizabetta was not moving from her current position and that she watched me with an expectant glance though I knew not why. It was but a second later she sighed, "_In the basket, please_."

I did as she requested but thought upon what she had said in regards to gray and red. "_You have an affliction to the other soda? What causes it_?" I asked of her as she began to move once the red box was within the confines of the basket.

"_Aspertame_," she stated as she moved the basket slowly towards the direction of that she wished. It was a word I had heard before in news reports and upon reading a small bit of the science papers of the newspaper. I understood it to be a sweetener of many things, such as any sugar or honey. However, if it was something that could harm Elizabetta, I should make sure to remove it from her both for her sake, my own, as well as her clan's.

"_This afflication, it is bad_?" I asked of her. Perturbed, she looked upon me rather than gazing upon the batteries that we were passing to get to the fruits and vegetables.

"_Don't worry, I won't eat anything that will cause Jasper to come after ya_," she stated before continuing her trek towards the sweet but non appetizing items. I thought it best to let this question pass. There would be time to allow for it again but I also did doubt Elizabetta was the type to purposefully inflict harm upon herself for any reason. She would more likely harm me than to cause herself physical pain –and even than, it would not be without justification. Though, I was a vampire, and to many, that may be justification enough.

Upon our entry within the larger, more open space of the almost combined floral and fruit departments, the scents of many items became more pronounced. The smell of apples, strawberries, various vegetables… I looked upon the wide variety in amazement for many were seasonal and many had I not seen with my own eyes before. In my human days, at the market, things such as grapes would only be available part of the year and not in conjunction with many other of the fruits I saw. Here was nature's plenty, without the street hawkers and open sewers of my day. Safe and contained inside this new market.

Suddenly, a noise ripped through the entire vegetable aisle, something akin to thunder though no large storm was outside. I quickly realized it was upon only this aisle and a soft mist fell from the overhead compartments that overlooked the various fruits and vegetables to only the sides of this open space. I went up to where the prepared salads were and placed my hand beneath this mist for it did look like rain but I knew of nothing that could control such a micro climate!

The mist pooled in my hand, a small bit of water creating a glittering lake. I was fascinated by this invention –a speaker, no doubt, that echoed the recorded sounds of a thunderstorm as a gentle warning to the humans of the rain that was to fall upon their meals. I turned to Elizabetta who did smile but shake her head as she went to the apple stand. Dropping the water and brushing my hand so it may dry against my jeans, I went to her side and watched as she inspected the various apples for her consumption.

My savior took no heed of me, or, rather, she did not seem the least bit startled by my proximity as many humans would. Though she had not shown the slightest hint of fear of my kind over the past few days, it still perplexed me as to how a human could be as comfortable with a demon as she might with one of her own kind. And yet, I thought again that it was simply her insanity that kept her free of fear.

As Elizabetta pinched another apple, dropping it to a pile due to a small bruise, only to pick up another, I smelt it. It was but a brief moment when the air changed for either the heater turned on above us, blowing the scent of flowers and citrus towards me but it was not Elizabetta's scent; it was similar but only in the sense that smells were akin to another. This did not induce any bloodlust within me and yet, I needed to place it.

To the golden apples I went, seeing as they were the citrus smell. The sign above the bin proudly declared them to be "_Tangerines_" but they did not complete the smell and smelt not nearly as sweet, as pure, as Elizabetta's scent. Placing the golden apple back, I went to flowers to trace the floral part of her scent only to have very little luck at one bin. Perhaps if I combined them, the floral and the tangerine, then I might have a better chance at regaining her scent whenever I pleased –for a part of me still wished to be able to leave her, the hand her to her family and not return. If I did so once the Guard was dealt with, then I would want some reminder of her. A picture would only replicate the look, not the movement or the smell.

It was as I walked around one of the flower bins nearest a small round desk area that included balloons for various celebration, that I felt my savior's gaze upon me.

"_What do you think you are doing_?" she asked of me. I did not look upon her but went by the next collection of flowers where the small roses smelt close but still not close enough. Though nothing could replace her, I wished to have some reminder.

"_The smell is off_," I told her as I returned once more to the golden apple bin. Perhaps it was the tangerine that was wrong and created the off putting non sweet smell. It needed to be soft, light, and sweet. This was far to heavy a scent and sour. I picked up another.

"_What smell? Those tangerines_?" Elizabetta asked as she quickly lost interest in what I was experimenting with. Instead, she kept within my sight and went towards the strawberries. "_Don't worry about them. I don't like tangerines anyway_," she replied as she picked up each carton with care and examining them by looking upon the bottom of them, through the clear plastic case, to see the strawberries that lay beneath.

She did not like them? Yet she smelt of them. Perhaps humans did not like the foods they smelt of? I knew not. With a new tangerine in hand, I gazed upon more flowers wondering if others might match the scent better. "_No_," I answered her before making my way back towards the various flora.

"_No_?" Elizabetta asked as if someone dared to defy her. Was it not her that defied me upon my unorthodox use of her vehicle? She refused to turn to go where I wished. Now, I would do much of the same.

Seeing as the smaller flowers did not hold the secret of Elizabetta's scent, I went to the ones behind the glass instead to see if they smelt differently. A cool breeze burst forth with some mist upon my opening of the door; what also assaulted my senses was that of the floral part of Elizabetta's scent. For but one albeit too brief moment, the combination was correct. Behind me, I heard the squeek of wheels to the basket and knew by the true scent that Elizabetta was behind me.

She folded herself over the basket, her arms across the handle whilst her right foot was placed upon the small ledge beneath the basket. As she did so, she spoke, "_We don't need flowers, Gabriel."_

I shook my head minutely, a detail she may not have seen, before I spoke. "_I need to see if I can get the scent right_," I informed her before picking up one of the roses to see if it smelt true. It did not.

"_What scent_?" she asked me. Much frustration laid in Elizabetta's voice –I suppose I was a bit like a newborn upon their first hunt, curious about each scent and each new thing that never before was seen with their old eyes. Placing the rose back, I turned to her and smiled for this was not something I had ever expected to do. My savior's eyes narrowed upon my visage but I tried not to take it as anything personal for I was a demon and she had every right to be angry upon me.

"_Yours_," I informed her. I saw every hint of annoyance, every bit of frustration leave her eyes as I turned back to the roses before me. When she spoke again, her voice was soft, like a true summer's rain, filled with warmth and hope.

"_Ah smell like…roses and tangerines_?" she asked. I nodded in reply though I continued to gaze at the roses, the golden apple still in my hands. Nothing to recreate her scent; she was too sweet in comparison. As long as I had her near me, I would not have any reason to attempt this madness.

"_Yes, but the ones here are off. You smell sweeter than they do. This tangerine almost smells rotten compared to you. Sour_," I told her before throwing the golden apple back where it belonged. My goddess, the incarnate of Diana herself, did not need one to be told she was the most beautiful –though, as such, I could not tell her yet. I knew humans did not fall in love as quickly as vampires and did not wish to burden her with my sentiments. Upon the golden apple's landing, Elizabetta watched in horror and then turned to cast her evil eye upon me. I but shrugged, knowing well why she was worried.

"_No one else is anywhere near this aisle_, my dear. _Do not worry. You are the only beating heart within sight_," I informed her as I took her hand to kiss her in apology. She did not accept it fully, but well enough that we continued on our trek down the market aisles.

With each aisle came new things. Some of which were common in my day, some of which I had seen in this modern era, and many of which were things I had never laid eyes on before. I did not comprehend the need for many different soaps –Elizabetta went through that aisle quickly, claiming another affliction. Her face became but a slight hint more pink, giving some truth to her statements. Though, which soaps caused her affliction, she would not say –only that she knew by smell and not by name. Only hair care products did she bother with. That, and ladies necessities that she attempted to sneak into the basket without my seeing. That had been an uncomfortable conversation this morning.

I heard Elizabetta curse inside the bathroom upon returning from taking her bags out to her vehicle. That was enough for me to become agitated for I had not heard this lady utter such a word and it did not sound natural to her lips. Though what "_Frak_!" meant, I knew little off –perhaps some new curse word invented in these late years?

"Elizabetta?" I demanded, my hand upon the door should she need assistance.

"_Go away_," she said, not as an aggravation but more as a warning. I stilled my hand, knowing not to barge in upon a lady in her beauty routine. As much as I lusted to see her naked flesh, the gentleman in me refused to allow anything that was not with Elizabetta's consent.

"_What is the matter_, little treasure?" I asked of her, wishing to know if she needed medical attention.

I heard several things from within the bathroom. It sounded like the flush of a toilet, the sink being used, and a dropping of something akin to her hair brush as she quickly went through a bag, followed by a half muttered "_damn_". As I was about to call her name again, she answered me. "_It's umm…nothing. I'm fine. Just…. Go outside. Take Ginz_," she told me in short bursts followed by a mutter of "_Where the hell is it_?"

Concerned, I began to turn the knob but did not go inside the room. I knew not what was going on and if she was injured… "Elizabetta? _Are you hurt_?" I asked of her.

"_Ummm…no. It's just….ugh_!" she stated.

"Elizabetta?" I asked more vehemently.

It was but a moment of silence before I hear the tearing of some sort of plastic. "_There is just some things human women go through, Gabriel. I'll be fine_," she muttered in a tone that suggested a great deal of embarrassment. I tried to think upon what a human woman must go through that would cause embarrassment and yet she would wish a vampire to leave quickly. It was then I realized her scent was enhanced slightly and I managed to place what was occurring. It was her cycle of the moon. Even the great Diana was subject to its bleeding cause.

"Oh," I said as I backed away from the door. I felt much abashed by my own actions and now, within the market, I ignored the feminine products and did not mention them. It was not a man's place to do so.

We went down the aisle that contained dog food, something Elizabetta bought a large bag of, and then went to the aisle that contained human sweets. It smelt interesting but not appetizing. Much of it smelt of chemicals and I could not see how any creature would wish to eat of it; especially the box my savior picked up. It had a sponge cake wearing a cowboy hat upon the box but it smelt of chemicals and plastic.

"_You eat those_?" I asked in great curiosity. Elizabetta nodded while she looked upon another box. This one was of a chocolate brown color whilst she looked between it and one that was orange with yellow writing proclaiming the name "Resee's".

"_Twinkies are good_," she stated as she grabbed that which smelt of peanut butter and chocolate. Chocolate was healthy for humans I was learning but I still thought peanut butter to be but a way for toothless elders to get protein as it was originally invented to be.

Given the smell of the Twinkies, perhaps I should hide them or, better yet, scatter their remains and blame such action upon her sable fur though it seemed a cruel thing to do to her pet; for it would surely receive its mistress's wrath. I would throw them away for such things that I was not sure could be human food should ever enter into Elizabetta's stomach –willingly or not.

The amount of food and aisles was alarming to me and I could not see how a human may choose but yet, Elizabetta did. So terrible different from the markets even 100 years ago that I may pass through as I hunted my next meal. Even the most monstrous of humans had need to eat and many would steal from their unsuspecting brethren. All things were covered up in what Elizabetta referred to as "dead dino" –meaning that plastic, as it was made from oil, was constructed of organic creatures long forgotten by the world. Is that would become of vampires? If we sat still too long would we become a liquid or a stone? Would our fossilized remains be something to be dug up by humans many millions of years later if humans still existed? And what then, for us? Perhaps animals were the way to go if nothing more than a variety in the diet.

As we approached the cashier, Elizabetta attempted to pull her wallet out. Rather than stopping her, I simply moved in before her and took my card to the awaiting machine. Her glares, I greeted with a smile for she was here and she was alive. I would not worry of the consequences of ages as, for now, I had someone to protect and preserve. Elizabetta would live and I would see the Guard become like the plastic containers all about – nothing more than useless old remains remade out of Death.

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**Author's Note:** Like it? Hate it? Please let me know with that review button!


	13. Chapter 13

La luce della Luna

**Disclaimer:** Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stephine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary:** The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's note:** I'm so sorry this has taken over three months to write. I've been ridiculously busy with sewing. I've had at least one big event each month since April where I needed to make at least one outfit for. In the case of the last one -not only did I have to make three different outfits for me, I had to make my Mom an entire 18th C wardrobe complete with stays. Now that sewing is slowing down, I can write again, I hope!

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_Chapter 13  
_

_For here was seized his dame of peerless charms,  
(How often human judgment wanders wide)!  
Whom in long warfare he had kept from harms,  
From western climes to eastern shores her guide  
In his own land, 'mid friends and kindred arms,  
Now without contest severed from his side.  
Fearing the mischief kindled by her eyes,  
From him the prudent emperor reft the prize._

_-Orlando Furioso VII by Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533)_

Church. The very name would not strike fear into any normal vampire, despite the demons we were. Crucifices, holy water, all things that were construed by the Volturi to make humans think they had a chance against the legends of old. Only my angel had found our true weakness –to be burned as we all would be once our time was done here upon the Earth.

And yet, it was Church I did fear in some measure for it was a Church that had been the last building I entered as a good and confident Christian man. Upon leaving, I was nothing more than a murderer, a sign of the demon I was yet to become as the priest's blood called out from the altar for revenge upon my very form. Father Piro was an innocent; his only sin –if it could even be called as such- was not giving into my demands to have my marriage annulled. He would not listen to my pleas and the devil took me over in that Church in my hometown; I allowed him to cloud my head and my judgment so that I killed that man. It was the last time the blood did not call to me in the sense of hunger.

When my Elizabetta stomped her foot and demanded to drive to the Church that she wished to go –even knowing that no service would be preformed today- I gave in for but two reasons: One was that I had denied her much in the past day. The fairy vampire had seen that if we were to separate, then we would both be lost from her visions. She had trouble seeing Elizabetta apart from me so I did not let my angel leave my side for more than a few minutes. My savior loathed that for there was something she much wanted across the street.

I had seen her as the evening settled in, standing upon the balcony above the waterfront of this harbor town. She gripped the handrail as she took in a breath of the air that blew from the bay, her dark locks blowing slightly behind her. As I stood within the room, thinking upon the beauty of her skin in these twilight hours, I also noticed something else about Elizabetta. She was home. Her movements were more free, her smiles more frequent as she spoke of this place. She knew every street and every turn when we had drive in –she even knew each store in the mall below us. However, it was to the mall across the street that she demanded to go and to that one would I not allow during the day. The sun had been too bright that I was regulated to the room and kept my savior my prisoner; thought I wished not for it. Upon the night coming, she had given up all fight and looked to the strangers below in longing. She wished to join her own kind –her fellow humans though I did not believe she was one of them truly, only that she believed herself to be one. Though she smelled as a human –far better than most in truth- she did not act as one nor speak as one. She knew more than she should and had no fear due to her minor insanity.

Now, it was my remembrances that were to drive me insane. For nearly half an eon have I not set foot within sacred ground yet to such did she wish to go. How was a demon such as myself to tell an angel no upon this holy day? I began to question whether she was truly my savior for though she had saved me from the witch Jane, I was now within Elizabetta's hands; herself a revenging angel.

Was she to toy with me? Was this God's plan? To send onto me the most beautiful of his angels so that to torment me further? She wished for what I could not allow in order to protect her very life. I wished for her but knew that even one moment of not considering even the gentlest of caresses could break her fragile skin. My beloved savior was within my grasp yet I could not have her without destroying her. This was the greatest torment for it was all my mind could consider as she slept at night in her peaceful land of dreams.

I would watch as her breathing slowed, the rhythmic rise and fall of her perfect breast, only to consider but one touch upon the cheek. A simple gesture of moving one lock from her face would all but persuade me to kiss her succulent lips. I knew it would wake her and I would not be able to control the lustful demon who demanded to be placed between her creamy white thighs. I would hold back my hands from her form but the demon in me would not stop. His thoughts became my own. The night previous had been the worst of these nights that I have spent in the human lady's company for I could not control myself. It had taken hours to calm and force the lustful demon back down as much as I hate to admit as such. I could not take her; beyond the normal object of sin, I would kill her.

The very thought of destroying my angel was beyond grief. My mind could no longer comprehend being without her. I did not see a world where no matter how many glares or snide comments she may make, I could be without her. A true love only meant that even upon the very worst, there was still no place you would rather be –such was I beginning to believe I had for Elizabetta.

Despite the lust that attempted to conquer me at night, and the bloodlust of her blood during the day, it was now the man that wept for I was more monster in my last human moments than I had ever been as a vampire. It was within a Church that my true form lashed out and struck down an innocent man; yet it was to a Church we went.

I took no notice of the car stopping for I warred with myself. As my savior's protector, I should follow her always. As her mate, I should want to be wherever she graced. Yet, as a coward and a fool did I fear the stone building to which she wished to enter and that I could not admit to myself. My pride and my honor demanded that I both protect her and yet do not enter the Church. Truly, she was sent from God to torture me further for I could not deny her and yet I had need to deny myself.

I heard the click of her seatbelt and the soft creak of the door as she moved to vacate the vehicle. Even as her shoes hit the pavement, I could not move. It was here that God had brought my human life to an end, upon his sacred home, and I had no wish to remind myself of the man I had been before those last moments.

But a week ago, such a remembrance would not matter. I would gladly walk within a Church more as a provocation, a dare to God to strike me down, but now a different fear replaced me. I did not wish to recall my sins from the time of my last human moments until now. However, now, I had Elizabetta. The guilt inside of me was a guilt of a human man filled with regrets for his sins. How could I atone for them?

I thought on Elizabetta, how she had change me, how I wished to know more of her, to know more of this peculiar human lady who showed no fear of us but struck fear into the heart of every vampire. For I knew well that her family feared for her. I had called them and spoke with them enough this week to know of their feelings for our human lady. Worry was the lady Esme's constant companion and it was with apprehension that Carlisle did answer the phone each time. They feared as I did; that she would be taken from us.

"_Coming_?" my savior asked a knowing smile upon her pink lips. I did not answer. Instead, I thought upon the Volturi and why they feared her. If it were by her hands that I was to be given into my Death, then so be it. They knew not what they feared for they feared an angel. I feared God's condemnation upon my human soul for no longer did I have a soul. I lost the moment I took an innocent life.

I reached for the handle of the door and looked upon the Church. Would such a place welcome me now that I have agreed to no longer take human life but protect it? Was that enough in the eyes of the Church? I heard the sarcastic quick laughter from my savior's lips before I heard her speak. "_I'm doubting God is in a smiting mood today but if you'd rather stay here_," she stated in a snide manner. Given my thoughts of fear and dread, I lost myself and did not consider that my glare would affect her. Truly, I believed that it would scare her off the moment I looked at her; that she would react as any other human and run from me, leaving her sable fur behind.

But no, not my little treasure. As her face did fall so did all hopes of any sort of reconciliation with God, the Church, and my human life. But all of that left with her smile. Instead, she took a step forward, her vehicle's frame preventing much more forward movement. A single hand did she reach towards me and she spoke the one word that made all the anger, all the hate, and all the self loathing leave me to only be filled with the need to love and protect her. "_Gabriel_?" her soft southern voice whispered to me. "_What's wrong?_" As her hand grew closer, I turned away from my little treasure for I did not deserve her.

When I did not answer her, I could see from the corner of my eye her quizzing look. My savior was clearly attempting to assess the issue before her and discover what plagued my mind though she could not know it. Her beautiful green eyes darted to above her vehicle and surveyed the surrounding area quickly.

"_I should go inside with you_," I informed her. It was the simple truth. I should enter into the last place I was truly human with her, a Church. I saw my love furrow her brow before she responded.

"_You can stay out here with Ginsie. I don't mind_," she informed me as if this were an obvious choice. Perhaps so, but not for me. I could not allow my eyes to leave her and to not hear her heartbeat so close. Within the Church, her feather light breathing would be lost to me as well as her soft green eyes.

"_No, I cannot_," I stated more for myself for I could not. I could not sit within the confines of the truck with her sable fur, unknowing if the Guard had found some entrance to the Church to commit a massacre. Even if it was not them, what if some other demon stalked her within those stone walls, unseen from my eyes? I could not leave my only love in such a way.

I exited her vehicle with care as I looked upon the stone masonry structure. It was in a place such as this my last human moments lived and, if God did have mercy upon even the soulless, than it would be to this one that the human in me –what little was left and had been reborn- should be baptized again.

Upon closing the door, I walked around the dark blue truck to Elizabetta's side. My hand reached for her's without thought and without words. It was her physical presence that I needed to remind me that not all was lost in this world. I would keep her alive and no longer destroy those that God deemed worthy of his love. It would be to animals that I would turn for my hunger and not to humans. As much as the idea of the taste disgusted me, the idea of no longer being a loathsome demon –one who was little better than those he destroyed- intrigued me greatly. Was this the consciousness my former mistress told me of? This guilt?

The wooden doors for the church were but slightly open. I pressed upon one with my free hand and allowed my savior to enter. It was only then that she looked down up on her right hand of which I had taken possession of. Her brow became knitted in a confused manner but it was not one anger.

When she opened her palm to extract her hand from mine, panic filled me. What if she were to run? What if she were leave? The Guard would catch her quickly. The human man in me could not take even the idea of her no longer living. He wept bitterly at the idea before becoming enraged by it. All had passed in a manner of a half second before my little treasure whispered within my ear, "_Don't worry_." I was confused until she took a half step towards the baptismal waters to bless herself. It was not to leave me that she broke contact with my grasp –one I allowed her to break for I could have held her still if I had wished but I had no desire to harm her- but the break was only to engage in a ritual known well for nearly two eons.

As she dipped two fingers of her right hand in the water and made the sign of the cross upon her person, she further spoke unto me. "_I'll make sure the scary church doesn't eat you_," my love said with a smile upon her lips. I could only half heartily chuckle at her for what she spoke was not to far from the truth of my fears. With the blessing done, I reached for her hand again and she did not pull away.

Within the nave of the church, Elizabetta stopped towards the back. There were but a few others, clustered near the Sanctuary, within what was a moderately sized church. It was done up in a style that was old even within my time though I doubt the building itself to be of any older than the last century.

Her vivid green eyes gazed up at me and she gestured with her head towards the back pew. I was unsure as to why she wished to sit there but I did not argue. Again, her hand left mine to bless herself prior to entering the pew. She knelt quickly and simply before taking her seat.

It was automatic. I did not think. The human man in me demanded it. I knelt upon one knee, my eyes averted from the cross in the Sanctuary, and blessed myself as well. For me, it was a humorous thing for I had no soul. My motions were but that of ingrained childhood rituals and not of thoughts for forgiveness and afterlife for I was undead. Yet, could even the soulless be forgiven? This time, Elizabetta took my hand as I sat next to her in the back of the church. I held on to her as tightly as I dared though she seemed to think little of it.

Such a simple gesture, to hold one's hand and yet it was a gesture profane in my time. Lovers held one hand upon the other, not palm to palm. None would walk down the street –let alone within a Church- with palms facing the other. It was analogous to having two bodies pressed upon the other and yet was not Master Shakespeare correct when he had Juliet speak that even those that sought God did but dip a finger against the icons of the saints? It was intimacy sought and intimacy gained. The pure innocence of wishing to know a saint versus the lustful intentions of wishing to know a lover. And how greatly did I wish to know her.

I fought with the demons of my past as I sat in the pew. The only reason I stayed was the same as the reason I came, the same as the reason I was still upon this plane of existence – my Elizabetta. She would recite the prayers along with the others and ask for God's forgiveness – for what, I knew not for killing a vampire was not a sin and yelling at one such as me certainly was not either- but she stayed. I had a need to protect her.

Even if it was from herself. Her driving was unique and brought about a most mortal fear within me. I could see the strawberry covered ribbon seated to the side –for no purse did she ever had with her- and I took them when she stood during the prayer service. I would drive from now on.

Through the duration of the service, I thought upon many things. The simple act of Elizabetta taking my hand –could it be possible at all that she did feel something more than disgruntlement towards myself? Or was I reading far too much into an act that was common place these days?-; the service being in English and not in Latin –something that I realized I missed-; and how to deal with the Volturi Guard.

Upon the end of the prayer service, still hand in hand, we both were silent and exited the Church to once again go back to her vehicle. Again her green eyes pierced me as she gazed upon me. I had no idea what she was looking for within my face until she spoke.

"_You need to hunt_," my Elizabetta stated emphatically. Of the many thing I considered upon seeing her gaze upon me, none were the simple checking of my eyes. It occurred to me that, in the past few days, I had become so accustom to the hunger pains that Elizabetta's sweet blood induced in me that I had ignored them completely. Did I truly need to hunt? It had been a week…

My sweet climbed into the passenger seat and reached back to pet her pet in greeting. The sable fur was much joyed by this. I climbed into the vehicle upon the driver's side prior to answering her.

"_No, you will be unprotected_," I stated in the same tone. To this, I received and exasperated sigh and a roll of those lovely green eyes. I simply started the truck so we may leave. It was the truth. If I were to leave, it would leave her vulnerable to the Guard. I cared little of my meeting them but I could not let my fragile human mate within their sights alone.

Her arms folded in upon themselves across her ample chest. "_I saved you, remember? Not the other way around,"_ she stated, much vexed. It was but a second for any of her anger to dissipate though. Her tone was much more quite, what a human might think of as a mumble as she spoke again. "_I'll surround myself with gasoline and a lighter to keep the guard away if it makes you feel better_," she informed me.

I did have to let one small glimmer of mirth escape as such an idea. "_You with gasoline and a lighter would not make me feel better_," I replied to my angel. The very idea made me far more cautious. Humans died in fire as well. It could be a very painful death or a very painful life should they survive the burns. I wished no pain upon her and would prevent such as happening as much as I was able.

For it was but yesterday that she stood within the confines of the hotel room, a bit of fabric in her hands. She had looked at it puzzled and perplexed for a bit, moving it between her porcelain fingers, before she searched for her purple lighter and a pair of scissors. She cut no more than half an inch off the edge of the fabric – I could tell by the smell of it it was both silk and rayon intertwined but I did not know at the time that she was curious of it's contents- and then lit the small scrap aflame. The flames were quite tall immediately and she still had a small burn upon her hand though it was nearly healed. It was by chance it seemed that she had thought enough ahead to do such an experiment above the bathroom sink.

I glanced over at my love. "_I saw what happened when you tried to…burn test was it? That piece of fabric yesterday_," I reminded her. The look upon her face when the fabric caught fire was something that still amused me.

Her glare was instantaneous upon my form at my mention at the experiment of yesterday. A low grumble erupted from her throat though no words were actually said. No more would she say for a bit and I did hope that such a discussion was off put at the very least if not forgotten. Of course, I was wrong.

"_There are a lot of bears in the western part of the state. Emmett likes those_," she informed me after ten minutes of nothing more than the light sounds of her musical device.

I glanced at her quickly, confused by her meaning. "_Of course, there are a ton of deer in the area but I'm told those are like how broccoli is to humans_," she continued whilst she looked ahead.

"_I will not leave you_," I informed her again, taking the roads towards the freeways that would lead us further east.

She sighed before she spoke. "_You need to hunt, Gabriel. I'll be fine for a couple of hours. I'm sure Alice will warn me if they get too close,_" my little treasure stated. Alice. Elizabetta had shown me pictures of the small vampire, a tiny creature that looked more like a much loved doll than a vampire. My little treasure referred to her as a pixie. I thought of this Alice as an impetuous fae –given her ability to call at the most inopportune of times.

Elizabetta moved and with it, a burst of her scent came over me. I clutched the wheel slightly too tight and could hear it's creaking beneath my hands. My bloodlust wished to take the sweet scent and enjoy it for all it was worth –but it was far easier to overcome than I thought it should be. The man in me was aghast at such an idea as draining the blood from my heart. It would destroy us both.

Once I was sure that the bloodlust was well under my control, I took a breath to speak. "_You are sure your Alice will watch over you?_" I asked her. "_How will you get away if I leave?_"

Elizabetta shrugged before her eyes turned to me once more. "_I'll go down to the lobby of the hotel and go outside. It's Annapolis. If you come back by midnight, there will still be a ton of people outside. They won't do anything in public_," she stated. It was true enough. With many humans as witnesses, the Volturi Guards' hands were tied. They could not risk exposure.

I sighed. I did need to hunt to protect Elizabetta from myself but I could not leave her unprotected either. If I were to be gone but two hours… Decided, I would hunt this night. "_I shall get a phone as well. You will call me if anything should occur. You will stay within your room and not venture out of it while I am out. I will not leave for more than two hours, if that long,_" I informed her. My beloved looked at me as if I had grown two heads. Her arms were crossed and her brow raised as if who was I to dare give orders.

"_You will hunt. I will be fine and do what I da…_," she started, her voice raising to the point her sable fur became most interested in our conversation. I interrupted her.

"_If you do not agree, I will not hunt_," I stated simply, unable to avoid the smile upon my face. Her brow fell and her green eyes pierced me thought I looked not at them. I could feel her glare upon my frame burn through my hard cold skin into the very center of my being, and yet, I attempted to ignore it.

"_You will hunt_," she stated through her teeth. I thought it wise not to argue with the one human that could truly destroy me anymore.

"_I will hunt_," I repeated. However, I would also take precautions to not allow her to leave the room. Perhaps a movie she liked would be upon the television or her family could talk to her?

No sooner did I think upon the Cullens than did Elizabetta's phone chime. She reached for it and greeted the person upon the line with her typically greeting. While doing so, my little treasure was attempting to convince her sable fur to stand down from the center of the vehicle and sit by her side. The pup refused and stood upon the center, her tail wagging and tongue lopsided into a wolfy grin. This clearly only added to Elizabetta's frustration.

No sooner had the voice spoken my beloved's name upon the line than I knew of whom it was. Edward had been my companion for three years some 80 years ago if not more. At the time of his leaving, I found it nothing more than a childish whim –a need of a child to once again see his "parents"- that he choose again to be apart of this vegetarian lifestyle. How wrong I was! It was out of love and the need to preserve human life. It took me, a man, five hundred years to learn what a boy learnt in but three.

Confusion filled Elizabetta's face upon hearing her name. "_Edward_?" she asked in a similar tone to that of Edward's.

"_Yes, I apologize for calling like this but Alice demanded it_," he continued. Recognition and a hint of that smile poured forth from her.

"_Alice demanded it_?" she asked in a manner of one who thought it but some trick about to be played. How one would play any trick upon the phone other than the typical "Prince Albert in a can?" from half a century ago was beyond me.

Edward answered in a fashion that I heard nearly hourly from Elizabetta –disgruntlement. Is it from him she learned such a tone? How long had Elizabetta been with the Cullens? I had thought no more than a month or two but was that part of her illness? She could not recall one day from the next?

"_Yes, she has found new ways to threaten me_," Edward informed her upon the phone.

Amusement played across my little treasure's face. "_And why, may I ask, not that I mind, but, has she asked you to call rather than just call me herself_?" she asked in a confused manner. I was enchanted with this little conversation as I saw now, or rather heard, the similarity in tones and realized that –though their syntax was quite different- even the manner in which they spoke was similar. Yes, she must have known them for quite a bit longer…

"_Because she is busy with Bella right now_," he responded in a muttered voice. Bella was not a name I recalled hearing from my little treasure's lips. Was this yet another member of this clan? How large had Carlisle's clan gotten?

The full beauty of her smile danced across her face but for a moment. Had I not been a vampire, I doubt I would have seen it. "_Bella Barbie time, huh_?" she asked before bitting back her laughter rather literally. She sucked in per pink lips and bit upon them to not laugh.

When no response was made, all mirth vanished from her face. "_Edwa_.." she began as if she were to apologize. Instead, what interrupted her and created her was Edward's laughter. It was a sound I had not heard in many years and I was surprised at the joy it brought me. Elizabetta, on the other hand, held the phone away from herself and if it needed holy water to correct it. I could not help but laugh with Edward and at my little treasure.

"_Yes, I suppose that would be the phrase for it_," he stated still with mirth in his voice. The smile that I was growing to adore adorned my love's face before she spoke again.

"_Poor Bella. All that foundation and nail polish_," she said with a false sense of woe. Even in her tone, the laughter pooled forth though she tried hard to suppress it. Though, I thought upon both the objects that were the subject of her laughter. Such farding had I never seen my Elizabetta attempting –her nails were natural and her skin had been touched by nothing more than beeswax upon her lips or a bit of rouge upon them.

As I thought more in the split second that I considered this, if such things were this Bella to wear, then she must not be one of our kind either. How many humans did know of the Cullens? If that was what this Bella was?

"_I believe she is more fearful of Alice's clothing choices_," I heard Edward state upon the phone to my little treasure. At such words, did she look down at her own clothing with a more cynical eye. "_Alice wished for me to inform you of her latest vision_," he continued.

Elizabetta did not look up but, rather, she bit her lower lip as a piece of string upon her blouse became the object of her attentions. The clothing she wore was not what I had noticed before –only that she was either dressed within her day clothing or nightgowns. But now that I did look upon her I realized that much of what she had was nothing more than old jeans and cheap t-shirts. They were not well enough for a lady such as herself. "_Oh_?" she said though her attention was still quite diverted.

"_Alice believes that the Guard will meet up with you in approximately two days. You will need to make arrangements, she said, before then_," were the words that Edward spoke, but it w as more of an impending death sentence. The vehicle fell silent. Even the sable fur dared to do no more than breathe. Though we knew the Guard were after us, to know the time was something altogether different. Death hangs upon every mortal's head and is a possibility of even those of us that are undead –but to know the very day that one may cease all living upon this plane called for a different type of preparation. We needed to act. I needed to protect her.

"_Thank you, Edward_," Elizabetta whispered into the receiver. Her perfect green eyes looked further away than I could imagine. It was almost if no hope was left within them.

"_Of course_," I heard of Edward's reply. Elizabetta was quick to respond as hope returned in those few short moments.

"_And please, give Alice and the rest of your family a hug for me_," she said quickly, her southern accent clearer as she now spoke than before. Edward let out a little laugh before he spoke again.

"_Alice says to tell you she loves you too_," he said without much enthusiasm. They finished their goodbyes and Elizabetta fell silent once more. Her eyes gazing out the passenger side window, denying me the access to them. She began to draw patterns upon the window again which worried me greatly. Had she not done the same upon us leaving the New York?

Of course, she would come out of it again. I needed to have hope in that. However, what was our hope? If we did destroy the Guard that was after us, what then? To run? To hide with my Elizabetta forever in the deepest corners of the world? That was no life for her. She could not see her family again –not if she wished to protect them. Truly, even having a simple device such as a phone would track them to us. We would need to drop cleanly off the face of the Earth.

How long could we run? Again, I thought of Elizabetta as changed –as my proper mate and wife- though I was unsure if that was even what she desired. If she did not wish to be changed, then we need not worry about running for long. Less than a century and all would be lost. It pained me greatly to think of it –as if I were loosing my soul once more yet the pain was not a physical one. Elizabetta was my soul now and I could not loose her.

"_You heard what he said_?" the soft southern soprano voice woke me from reverie.

"_Yes_," I said in a bit too short a manner. My thoughts were still filled of what the future was for us and I liked not what I saw. Elizabetta deserved her family, her friends, to live as she wished and yet the Guard prevented just that. This running that we were currently doing was no temporary measure but what the future did hold for both of us.

"_Don't crush the steering wheel_," she muttered as her head turned back to the window. I looked to the device to see I did hold it a bit too tightly. I believed it softly screeched in protest three miles back. Immediately, upon her asking, I loosened my grip.

"_We should get the supplies tonight_," she stated in a voice that was monotone for her. My little treasure's mind was elsewhere.

I nodded in reply, knowing she could see me through the reflection of the window. "_Do you have a list of supplies?,_" I asked of her. I was unsure of what she had planned still other than something involving gasoline and fire. She would need supervision with such items.

"_I know how to make the remote detonator if that is any help_," I informed her softly. The sadness etched upon her face was too great for me to bare –though I saw it but in the reflection of the glass. My little treasure's only answer was to nod and no more did she say to me.

Rather, she looked behind her towards her sable fur. I did not glance behind me to see if it was to the pup that Elizabetta reached or for something else. However, given the lack of noise –Elizabetta tended to throw things when she was looking for something- and her not turning around immediately, I believe she was simply petting her pet.

"_Gabriel_?" she stated after but a few minutes.

"_Elizabetta_?" I teased. Immediately, the glaring green eyes fell upon my form and I was glad to have them. It was far better than the immeasurable sadness of earlier.

"_Can we…drop Miss Ginsie off at a vet for a few days? I hate to do it but I don't want to have to worry about the guard getting her and taking her as a pint sized snack…literally_," she asked as she twisted back into her seat. Her hands once more were occupied by a loose string upon her blouse as she looked down at them.

I laughed slightly at the Guard being even the slightest bit interested in destroy a mere dog but I knew well that this dog meant much to Elizabetta and that was all I needed to know. Reaching for her, to let her know I did understand, I stated, "_We'll drop off your precious_ _sable fur, little treasure_."

When she did not do more than nod again –I could not take the sadness she seemed to radiate- I move my hand to force her eyes to meet mine as gently as I could. "_Do not worry, my dear. I will make sure you see your precious pet again_," I tried to tell her as emphatically as I could. I would make sure she lived and the Guard did not. I would make sure my Elizabetta was safe, at all costs. I would protect her.

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Author's Note: Reviews make my day!


	14. Chapter 14

La Luce della Luna

**Disclaimer:** Gabriel is mine. Elizabeth is mine. The Cullens? Not so much. All recognized Twilight people are Stepheine Meyer's. I'm just playing with them.

**Summary:** The companion piece to The Stars and The Sun. This is to that as Midnight Sun is to Twilight. All of this will be told from our beloved Gabriel's POV.

**Author's Note:** I know. I'm horrible. Sorry! At least this is a LONG chapter, right? 30 pages on word!

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Chapter 14

_sic erit; haeserunt tenues in corde sagittae,  
et possessa ferus pectora versat Amor.  
Cedimus, an subitum luctando accendimus ignem?  
cedamus! leve fit, quod bene fertur, onus._

_Thus it will be; slender arrows are lodged in my heart,_  
_and Love vexes the chest that it has seized_  
_Shall I surrender or stir up the sudden flame by fighting it?_  
_I will surrender - a burden becomes light when it is carried willingly._

_-Ovid_

When I asked the previous innkeeper to what place to visit next in this state, he informed of Annapolis. It smelt of the sea and was of a far slower pace than the lights of Baltimore. Boats still sailed in and out of the harbor in Annapolis and it held the charm that Charm City did not, that of a world I thought much gone.

I worked with that innkeeper to book a room within the capital of the state of Maryland. He promised that the new inn would be well to Elizabetta's standards and that it's location was ideal within the city. I paid him handsomely to have all set and stay but the night at what he referred to as a bed and breakfast. I recalled the one we stayed at previously and thought myself not strong enough to resist but, such a place, did look to be to Elizabetta's likings from what I knew of them.

The inn was far different for a modern hotel and very much like the inns of my day. A room such as one might have at home, with a toile beadspread and crocheted curtains about the bed and soft white curtains upon the window, is what greeted us as we entered the room. Elizabetta seemed to take no notice for she held but her sable fur in her arms, kissing the head of her much loved pet, as her eyes found the desk within the room and did not leave it.

This innkeeper, an older lady, had led us to it and explained when to expect dinner as well as breakfast. I listened and thanked her though Elizabetta took no notice of the lady –my own lady's attention entirely transfixed upon the phone. Once the innkeeper left us, no word did Elizabetta speak. Indeed, she took straight to desk, her pet in her arms, at such a speed that I did believe for but a half of a second that she was not human once more. No human moves that smoothly, that quickly, that I have seen.

When she sat down, her pup took her leave of her mistress' lap, and began to move about the room in a fashion I was becoming accustom to. Wagging her tail, the sable fur made her way from one edge of the room to the other, inspecting it with her nose and seemingly finding it much to her liking. The pup would not stay with us much longer but go to the pet boarding if Elizabetta had her way, and her way she would have.

Immediately did my secret mate look through the many drawers of the desk and find a thick yellow book. I watched the smile creep upon her perfect pink lips as she flipped through the pages quickly. I had placed the bags she did always bring in with her –whether they were to be used or not- upon a bench in the room, prior to my turning to full look upon her.

She sat upon the wooden chair, her fingers gracing the yellow pages before her, looking to it for what ever answers it may give. I stayed silent but a few feet behind her and but watched my sweet pet. Elizabetta's green eyes read each word, her finger following along, as if in deep concentration. I knew what she looked for and read for as such had been a great concern of hers. She looked for boarding for the small sable fur that did gleefully dance around a small table within in the room currently.

It did not take long before my love's other hand reached for the older looking black phone. It was only upon her looking up that she did glance at a white sheet of paper upon it and frown. I knew not why until I heard her voice speak to me. "_Gabriel_?" she asked as she turned within the small wooden chair to face me.

"Yes?" I replied in the same tone knowing much that she would not like it as such but that it would get her mind off more serious matters for the moment. Indeed, her green eyes narrowed at me as if fire itself laid behind them.

A perfect dark eyebrow arched before she spoke unto me again. "_Throw me my phone_," she more ordered than asked. I saw no more of her face for upon her words, she looked down at the yellow book again. "_It's in my purple bag. I think_."

I knew where she had stored it for I had seen Elizabetta's every move upon her packing for this stay. I had watched as her ivory hand slipped the simple phone now decorated with strawberry stickers into the purple bag earlier. Before she had finished speaking I held the phone for her and tossed it when her green eyes looked upon me once more. She, of course, caught it well.

I listened with curiosity brewing within my very being for Elizabetta asked many questions of each place of boarding she called. Not one, but three did she speak with and each she asked the same six questions. She wished to know the price of boarding –of which seemed a normal thing to ask though she had no reason to worry in regards to that for I would happily pay to keep the small fur covered object of my love's affection away for but a day or week. Even though I had stated as such, Elizabetta seemed to take no notice of it.

The next questions were regarding play times and the foods given to the dogs. That she wished her pup to be comfortable was understandable. However, the questions that made little sense to me were those regarding extra payment for medications, any twenty four hour veterinary care, and if any doctors did specialize in epilepsy upon the staff. My own brow furrowed upon hearing of such. Was the sable fur that Elizabetta kept so close to her ill and suffered from a disease of the nerves? Even in my day we knew well of epilepsy for though not many had it, it was not a newly discovered disorder.

I knew well of the medications that Elizabetta gave her pet each morn but I had little in the way of knowledge as to why she did as such. Of course, now this gave me even greater insight into her character for not only was she capable of loving that which she shouldn't –despite their vegetarian diet they were still vampires- but she cared deeply for what others would have long ago assessed as an ill dog and have put to sleep. Though I could start to see why Elizabetta could not allow death to come to her pet –the joy the animal brought her made me wish to see if even this creature could be turned to an immortal for anything that brought about such joy should not be allowed to wane from this life into the next. Instead, Elizabetta spent time to discover the best care for her pet, the best life for this clearly contented creature. If this was as my mate wished, then so be it. I would have no other though I could not tell her that as such.

I had been mulling over such an idea of telling her but it had yet to be a week since we hath met and though I understood well how our kind came to love I did also understand it in human terms as well. Humans may speak of love at first sight though none truly believe in it from what I have seen. No, my mate could have no love for me; how could she? I was but a monster, a vampire! One who wished to take her very sweet life's blood from her throbbing blue veins as I settled for nothing more than a kiss upon her temple. I had thought earlier upon my meeting of her that she was the one that was mentally ill and yet, it truly was I that did not have my wits about me. I wished for her blood, I wished for her flesh, and yet, most of all, I wished for her.

If my first wish was granted, then the last one would be denied for she would die at my own hands. The pain that raged through me at even a split second of such a thought was enough to force me down. I sat upon the bed and noticed Elizabetta eye me curiously as she spoke upon the phone. Quickly, I placated her with a smile knowing that I could not ever take her life's blood from her.

Knowing that, I doubted that the second wish could I ever truly have if she did wish to remain human. However, if she did wish to remain human, as long as she would allow me within her company, I would never feel true sadness again. I would be contented with this, to be here, to watch her, and to see her joy.

I would also see her sadness, her pain, all of her, each day, for the rest of her life. And what then? I knew what then. I would be a curse upon any that had wronged her in her life and their children. I would protect all that she had loved that lived still. I would become nothing more than a shade upon the Earth; no longer living in any sense of the world and without any hope. If all the world were righted til none that had wronged her lived and all that she had loved perished, I would then seek death for a life without my Elizabetta was the only Hell I could conceive of anymore.

I shook such dark thoughts from my head as I watched Elizabetta end her phone call and then look upon her pup once more. She reached over and grabbed the sable fur about to pull the creature up and into her lap. Knowing she wished not for an audience as she hugged the creature she loved much, and for me, to better ignore the jealousy within me that brewed as her precious lips were placed upon the pups head, I began to unpack her things and place them where I thought best. Anything to distract myself.

I knew her pink rounded bag of the thin but strong material belonged within the bathroom vanity and to there I took it. Each bag I saw and put where they would end up should she have need of them. One by the desk, another nearest the foot of the bed –in the past week I had seen how each item would end up, where my treasure would demand they go. So, in but a few seconds I placed each of them according to what I believed her will to be. I then thought to further distract myself with an old newspaper or a book –anything to which would help keep my mind on other things.

I considered hunting. It was something that I had need of –to drink another's blood for the temptation was growing stronger by the day though I was provided some immunity to Elizabetta's sweet scent. However, I worried greatly of her well being if I should leave for even a moment. What if the Guard come whilst I am away? I could not bear the very thought and yet had I not promised earlier that I would do so this night?

The telephone chirped out its odd little tune to which both Elizabetta and I looked towards it. Even the sable fur cocked her head at the sound of the mobile phone ringing loudly from the desk. Standing, my little treasure answered it with some wariness. "_Hello_?" she stated. When all apprehension left her face, I knew well of which family it was so I went back to attempting to distract myself in anyway when Elizabetta called to me.

"_She wants to talk to you_," my love stated in an off hand manner, tossing the mobile telephone in my direction. I caught it quickly enough and placed it to my ear, unknowing of wish "she" Elizabetta referred to. I could not hear the voice from across the room unlike in the confines of the vehicle.

"Yes?" I asked with great curiousity. However, as soon as the word had left my lips did the voice upon the other end of the phone speak.

"_You can hunt. I'll watch her. The Guard aren't planning anything until tomorrow and you'll be back by then. Elizabeth will be fine_," the Alice vampire told on to me as if in a manner of great frustration.

"_She will be unprotected_," I whispered upon the phone. A psychic many thousands of miles away was no match for a vampire close at hand –whether that vampire be protective or murderous. My other motive for keeping such conversation from Elizabetta was of the argument we had earlier over this very topic.

"_She'll be fine. If they do decide to come by, I'll warn Elizabeth and she can just go out to one of the clubs and wait for you there. Even the Guard aren't dumb enough to try anything in public like that_," this fairy creature as Elizabetta called her told me. I looked to my savior in question for I waffled between my bloodlust –giving into my hunger and hunting- or staying where I may become the danger for her.

As Elizabetta smoothed back the soft vanilla and ginger fur of her pet with her alabaster hand, her green eyes were raised to my dark red ones. I had no wish for this little treasure to know of my dilemma. Would she still feel safe with me in anyway if she knew the thirsts she caused in me? The bloodlust was but one…

"_You will call her the moment anything that may harm her should come this way?_" I inquired once more to fully validate such in my own mind.

"_She'll be fine. Go, tonight,"_ Alice stated with a sigh before ending all communication with but a press of a button. I did the same as the dulled ring tones of the phone being no longer connected came upon the receiver. Elizabetta stood as I went to place the telephone back in her alabaster hands.

"_What's up?_" my savior, my Diana, asked of me. Her meaning was simple in this new common language –that she wished to know of what Alice stated- yet without the complexity of the words.

"_Alice reminded me that I had promised to hunt this evening,_" I stated with a hint of a smile upon my lips. Would this scare my savior? No, for it was upon my hunt she found me and destroyed Jane. No, this no fear would it bring to her eyes.

"_Good,_" she stated in a satisfied manner prior to turning and folding herself back up as she sat upon the floor with her flea fur. "_Bring the truck back in one piece_," she continued much to my amusement. Even in her worry for her pup, my savior could show her fears regarding her vehicle.

As my love played with her sable fur, she turned on the television as well which was a blessing for I now had nothing in which to distract me after the phone call from Alice. I would not leave to hunt until Elizabetta slept –something that we both decided upon. I watched the contraption and listened to the news of the day. Elizabetta, for her part, made no motions to leave the room. Instead, she played gently with her beloved sable fur for the rest of the evening before her taking to bed.

I waited until my Diana's, my sweet goddess of the moon's, breathing evened and her eyes moved quickly beneath their half closed lids. As she sweetly slumbered, I pulled my way from the room. It was a hard thing to do, far harder than I imagined. For I had thought that pulling myself from the delicious agony of watching her sleep in which my lust for her raged would be a blessing. I knew well that the fairy vampire watched over her and would alert my savior to any danger and yet, as I took my steps out the door, I was haunted by many questions.

Had not the fairy seen Elizabetta turn down that fateful street and kill Jane? Was it only out of wishing the mind witch dead that Alice said nothing? Had it been her that called my savior that night? And what of my taking of the Cullen's beloved pet? Did Alice not see my decision? My hand steadied at the door, refusing to turn the knob as such thoughts assailed me.

It was only from the corner of my eye I saw it. Elizabetta's phone had a red light that flashed upon its face and then disappear. It did so again two seconds after the first, and again, as I waited to open the door much against my wishes. Instead of the door, my attention diverted to the phone for it was only upon a message that it glowed red as it did now. I could not help my curiosity as to what the message said as I picked the phone off the small desk within the room.

Surprise overcame me when I saw it was a written message addressed to me only to realize quickly that I should not be surprised about such things with the frustrating fairy about. It was clearly from her.

_Take the phone. I can call her on the room phone. I'm watching them and they aren't in the area yet. You're fine. Go. –A_

A smile crept upon my lips as I did as the frustrating fairy commanded. Not in a long time had I done as others wished but I knew that if I did not do so, my savior would be displeased. Any displeasure when death may come upon us in a matter of hours was not what I wished for my savior. I only hoped that she may live and return to her family.

I drove as far as I dared and went for my first hunt as a vegetarian vampire. Upon existing the vehicle, I inhaled the air to make sure none but myself were around. Being that it was night, I doubted any human hunters were nearby but still, there may be a human camping or up to some other activity that did not deserve death this night. All I could smell was Elizabetta's sweet scent as it had saturated her vehicle and a few old trails of humans that had passed by earlier. Each were hours if not days old. I was safe form breaking my promise to my savior.

All was still as I entered the woods, for no animal dared to make a sound outside of the too rapid beating of their hearts. I kept my focus upon my hunt as the leaves and sticks were crushed beneath my feet. If I dared to think upon even the moonlight as it sauntered through the still too thin leaves of spring, I would think upon my human savior and how she had but her pup to protect her in the inn currently.

The door to the room was locked, I reminded myself –which would stop most human monsters. The frustrating fairy was watching over Elizabetta with her mystical eye. But would she be able to give my savior enough time to leave should the Guard…

I stopped myself. It was pointless to have come this far and not hunt some sort of mammal to sedate my thirst prior to returning to my human savior. I brought my mind around to the musty smell of decaying leaves and dirt, attempting to find anything that smelt the slightest hint of appetizing in the air. I also listened for any sound, hearing nothing but the smallest of creatures, some sort of river or large creek a few hundred feet away, and the whistling of the breeze as it moved about the woods I had entered.

My direction was not defined. I stayed off the human trails and followed what smelt of deer in the hopes that something larger preyed upon them. My luck turned within ten minutes of my arriving as I approached the river bed. Upon the other side of the rushing water was what my nose had lead me too, a large brown bear.

It wasn't appetizing in the sense that humans were but it did smell far more like a meal than any of the deer or other creatures I had passed did. It did not sense the danger of me given the river and the distance. A smile crept upon my face as I crouched down, ready to swim or jump as I wished and catch my large prey.

I thought nothing of it as I approached this fur covered creature that dined upon its last fish. He did not see me until my teeth already were but an inch away from his neck. The fur upon my tongue was disconcerting but the rich warm blood erased any uneasiness I felt regarding this unorthodox meal. It was nothing like human blood for it was not nearly as sweet. I wondered if this is what humans meant by "gamey" when describing their meals.

As I drained the creature of its life's blood, I slowly began to notice two things; that I was wet and that my shirt was torn to many small pieces. Currently, half my sleeve upon my left arm was about my wrist and I knew not where the upper half of the cotton had landed. Perhaps I should have brought a change of clothing for hunting humans rarely resulted in such causalities as this. Even if they did shoot at me or otherwise mar my clothes, I would simply have stolen theirs once I was done with the body. If their clothing was unacceptable, most had a closet of something that would have worked or I could easily steal from a neighbor. I do not think Elizabetta would approve if I returned wearing a fur coat upon the spring. The skin would not have time to dry properly.

I dropped the dead carcass and examined the remnants of my clothing upon me. I tore off what little of the shirt remained for it was useless and began to wonder how quickly jeans dried. I should not have swum across the river for would not the water harm the leather of the seats in my savior's vehicle? I did promise not to harm it.. At least I had left the mobile phone in the car so it was not damaged as well.

To walk in shirtless to any establishment would be uncommon but not unheard of. I could easily go into the inn as I am without much worry. Rather, it was the vehicle itself that was my focus and should I attempt to find clothing elsewhere prior to my return? But where? For no human lived within miles of this place. I again cursed myself for not bringing a change of clothing and swore to remember next time. Or, at least, to leave a bag of my new outfits that I had recently purchased but a few days prior in the truck at all times. However, any such ideas for future hunts did little to help me now.

I made my way back to the vehicle quickly and looked about it to find some item that may help my current issue for I could not get the seat wet. Perhaps if Elizabetta packed a towel amongst her things? The moment I thought of it, I realized exactly where a towel did exist –beneath the bed of my savior's sable fur. It would smell odd and I did not relish the hint of wet dog fur that would linger, but it would save me from possibly ruining Elizabetta's leather seats in her vehicle by wearing wet jeans.

Satisfied with my solution, I drove back to Annapolis. I found the change in me startling though my joy grew as did the speeds at which I pushed Elizabetta's vehicle as I raced towards the inn. But two weeks ago, I would have not thought anything of a human's horseless carriage other than to attain, perhaps, one for myself. I would not have cared for such things as leather seats and I most certainly would not attempt the loathsome vegetarian diet and yet in little more than a week any thoughts I had of only myself, of caring only what became of me and of what Hell I should go to, had left me. Instead, my thoughts were very much of what another thought and, to some degree, what her clan thought for I knew well that their thoughts were upon her too. It was to her safety, her life, that I cared for; for I cared greatly for her.

I had not considered another individual's opinion before with such weight since the time of my son. His death still haunts my every move for I was an undead thing, unchanging, and he was gone from this plane.

Somberly, I drove up to the inn; my jeans now mostly dry as I left the vehicle. I could hear the various humans going from one pub to the next but a street over as well as the sound of the water gently lapping against the docks not far away. What I also heard as I turned to enter the inn was a soft gasp.

From my peripheral vision, I saw two women upon the other side of the street. It was the shorter blond woman who gasped and looked upon me with lustful eyes. I attempted to ignore her as she drunkenly whispered to her friend how much she'd like to take me home for the evening. I suppose at one time I may have smiled at such a comment but now, all I could think of was reaching my Elizabetta.

I rushed past the door of the inn as quickly as possible and still maintain a human look. I took no notice of any humans here and walked quickly to the door, taking my key out and opening the door to the room.

Though it was dark inside, I was immediately at ease with what greeted me. Elizabetta still slumbered quietly upon her bed and her sable fur opened it's eyes only to growl lightly at me. Softly, I admonished the creature before closing the door. Elizabetta was safe and that was all that mattered to me anymore.

In the morning, I thought upon how best to spend the day. I had no wish for Elizabetta to continue to sulk within the room and do nothing more than tease her pet. "_Shall we look about this city_?" I asked after her breaking fast in the morn.

My love nodded softly and watched her pup trot around the room when she had just brought the fur creature back in from her walk. Elizabetta was still concerned regarding the boarding of her pup. She had confessed to the innkeeper during the breaking of the fast, that my little treasure was fearful of leaving the creature with any other than her family. I knew this well enough that, smiling, I took her hand and led her to what I hoped was away from her thoughts on boarding her precious pup.

For the first hour after her meal, she said nothing. I feared again that she had gone into some sort of hysterics except that her eyes followed items we saw along the road. She was aware but sadness had taken her. As we walked about town, for I hoped the fresh air may clear her thoughts, I thought to try to get a rise out of her, a reaction. For any reaction would be far better than the depression she currently was in. It was when we passed by a couple who were walking their dogs, Elizabetta looking longingly after the animals, I muttered, "_Human women are far too emotionally attached to things of no value._"

And…nothing. She only sighed. No glare, not arguing. I know she had heard me for her sigh was due to my muttering but…nothing. She walked and looked upon the old buildings but her sadness was all that was written within her eyes. There was no anger, no ferociousness, that I had come to expect. Instead, that anger, those glares I greatly wished for from her –to have some reaction from her- came from within me. I could feel the anger in me grow and realized that the man in me, that I, was angry at myself for treating this lady in this manner. Did a gentleman ask for such a rise out of a lady? No! Instead, a gentleman should treat a lady with all respect and show her that the world was still filled with beauty when she could see none.

Looking around, the buildings were things of beauty –each typical of the era in which I came to this country if not much earlier- but I did not think that pointing such things out would calm the hurt within my mate. I looked to the stores and hoped that despite Elizabetta not being a typical woman, that my lady may find some trinket that may bring a smile once more to her lips.

"_Come_," I said as I gently took her hand to lead her to a store that seemed filled with curious objects. Her green eyes looked upon me with intrigue but she made no sound in objection. Rather, she took her stride beside me and followed without a word. I knew then how deep her pain truly was for not a time has gone by in the past few days that she did not at least ask of where we went if I did lead the way –except for the dreadful incident in the land of Dunkirk.

Her brow knitted as I held open the door for her upon reaching the store. It was across from a small harbor where many a boat was tied. In my day, it was nothing to see many boats vying for a space in the harbor in which to come ashore. In this day and age, it was a sight to behold for the automobile had long since taken over both the horse and the boat as the ideal transportation. Canals gave way to highways and such stuffs were considered quaint rather than necessary.

I smiled upon her confused face as my beautiful lady took a step within the store. I watched carefully as she picked up this or that –all things made of seashells- until she turned to face me. "_Was there something you wanted in here_?" Elizabetta did finally speak. Her voice was meek but it was hers and that alone caused the man in me much pleasure.

I shrugged, wishing to give no hint of the depth of feelings for her but also to let her know my concern. "_You spoke of shopping upon the other day when I could not venture outside. If you wish for another store, then we shall go as you please_," I informed her. Elizabetta replied with but a sigh and began to once again examine the various trinkets before her.

A seashell clock, a wind chime made of seashells, a boat, a figure of a crab made of seashells, bottles of seashells, and much more made up this store. I had no doubt this theme was due to the proximity of the harbor and meant to be a tourist destination. I believe the modern term for such a place was "tourist trap" and I had brought my Elizabetta into it. I tried to think of any other place we may have passed as we had walked during her melancholy mood but could think of none other than a few dining establishments.

As I attempted to think upon another place in which to take my love, she turned to face me. "_Gabriel_?" she asked, biting her bottom lip immediately after doing so. I smiled at hearing my name upon those perfectly luscious reddish lips.

I took her hand upon and gently kissed the top of it before I gave my reply. "_Yes_?" I asked softly of her. I wished to treat her as a lady and not as I had prior.

"_Do you mind much if we go to another store_?" she asked me much to my delight. If she had want of something, anything, then perhaps my plan to relieve her of her melancholy was working even in it's smallest amount.

"_We may go wherever you wish_, my dear," I told her sincerely. Her lips attempted to turn in an upward manner but never reached even the approximation of a smile. Still, it was a start and she was speaking once more. This was all I wished for for now.

The store she brought me to, I knew not what to think of. For it was odd, eccentric, to say the least –and never a place I would have come near prior to this day. All the items were of fairies; such as the type I had seen hanging from the rear view mirror within Elizabetta's vehicle. Small clay fairies with feathers for hair. And those items that were not fairies were artisan created jewelry and dream catchers –things that were called "New Age" by this new generation. Yet, though I would never touch such things, I could easily see my lady here.

The colors of the store, the ribbons and glitter that made up the various bits and pieces contained within it, it was all my mate. As her fingers brushed against the glass of a display case, her eyes looking for some unknown object, I happened upon what looked like…circlets or crowns of some type. They were clearly for women for they were made of some sort of glittering stars garland and ribbons. One of which I saw was clearly made for my Elizabetta – teal metallic stars were interspersed between pink and purple ribbons. Though the colors she may wear were red or pink mixed with black, I had seen the many items she owned long enough to know these were not her favorite colors.

Her favorite colors were purple and a dark bluish teal. She also admired pink greatly and each item she owned –that of which was not covered in strawberries- held these colors. Her laptop was black but the background upon the screen on it was a mix of teal, purple, and pink. Purple, teal, and pink –these were her heraldry.

Taking the crown from its stand, I secretly placed it upon her head. The ribbons contrasted beautifully with her thick dark hair. The stars belonged upon her head. Though it looked nothing of a crown from my time, it still made my mate look like the true Princess she was.

Confusion colored her face as she reached up upon her head and felt what I had placed there. "_Gabriel, wha_.." she began but did not finish. Instead, she brought the long ribbons from the back of the crown around so she may inspect the colors herself. To this, did she smile as the pink and purple satin strands graced her ivory hands.

It was not a full smile, but it was well enough. Her melancholy was leaving her and this was all I wished. At least, I believed it so until her green eyes became transfixed upon some unknown object. It was behind me and to the right of me, whatever had caused her some alarm. I turned to see them too –jeweled dog collars. I cursed myself for such a foolish mistake. Why had I not seen them? All mirth left Elizabetta's features. Quickly, she placed the crown back upon it's stand as I whispered, "_Let us go_."

My inability to see the dog's collars ruined any chance I may have had at cheering my little treasure. Her thoughts were ever present and downcast based upon her facial features. She would speak when spoken to but little did she make in the way of any conversation. Upon another hour, I lead her back to the hotel where her beloved pet was. It would be better for her to take what time she had with the pup now than to continue in this failed outing.

Of course, being back at the inn, my thoughts too turned darker. This may be our last days for how soon would we reach the place where our confrontation with the guard would transpire? I could not think of Elizabetta not continuing but I also knew she would fight any attempt at my leaving her…and then what? I could not leave her, my greed for her scent and her untouchable flesh was too great.

As we walked near the inn, her phone rang. I saw the conflux of people nearby and kissed my lady upon the hand to go into the inn and repack our bags as well as retrieve the much loved sable fur. Elizabetta nodded and stayed along the sidewalk as she said a "_Hi, Carlisle_," upon answering the telephone. The guard would not attack in broad daylight such as this despite the clouds overhead. There were too many people nearby.

Quickly, I took the bags and the pup –much against the flea fur's wishes- down to the truck and loaded the items. Upon seeing the blue vehicle, the fur creature calmed and trotted toward it knowing it was our destination.

Upon placing all the items inside the vehicle, including the sable fur, I looked about for my little treasure. At first, I was alarmed for she was not where I had left her. But it was no more than a second notice that I saw her leaning upon a brick wall near the very spot where she had been but a few minutes before. Her eyes were closed, those green orbs cut off from my view, and she held the phone in her hand but down from here ears. She looked as if the weight of the world was upon her shoulders and I wished to take that from her.

As gently as I might touch a flower petal, I placed my hand upon her shoulder. She looked upon me startled and I retreated my hand immediately. However, Elizabetta shook her head. "_Sorry_," she whispered, to which, again, I knew not why. "_Didn't realize it was just you_."

I smiled softly and tried my best not to laugh upon my love. Why should she apologize to me, a vampire? I was the very terror that all humans feared –I was Death- and yet she did not show it. She showed compassion, empathy, and even love towards those of the Cullen clan.

"_Come, we must go_," I informed my secret mate. She nodded and followed silently until we reached the vehicle. When I opened the door for her seat and she glared upon me but obligingly sat in the vehicle, Elizabetta stated but one thing. "_We need to run the errands first_," she pointed out. I nodded. Indeed, we had many errands to run.

Of course, we were in need of supplies though I knew not where to get them. Elizabetta mentioned the previous evening of simply going to the hardware store as well as the large market to get what was needed. She also informed me I was to follow her and not pick up every curiosity I saw for we were in a hurry. I did not understand the instructions for a hardware store I had been in many times before.

Or, rather, I did not understand until we were inside.

We were to drop off the sable fur first. Elizabetta pulled the creature from the back seat into her lap, hugging the confused creature endlessly upon our drive to the veterinary office. Each time those lushous dark pink lips were placed upon the flea fur's head, I could not help the pings of jealously I felt.

However, my jealously was easily overcome with the thoughts upon our survival of this confrontation. I tried not to let myself think any other than that we would win. Demetri, Alec, and Felix would be dead by the morn and no more would they follow us. So what if the Volturi still demanded our capture? They would have lost their tracker and be unable to find either myself or my mate.

But what if they did find us? What if the device Elizabetta and I were to construct did not work or, far worse, destroyed us both?

My dark thoughts were interrupted by my sweet pet's voice. "_Turn here_," she stated as we came upon the drive for the animal boarding. As she readied the leash for her flea fur, Elizabetta kissed the pup but once more upon the head. "_Gin, ready to go?"_ she asked the creature who but cocked her fur clad head in response.

Quickly, I vacated the vehicle and went to open Elizabetta's door. I looked at her frame as she held the now growling sable fur in her lap. "_Are you ready_?" I asked softly of the lady before me. As she nodded, a small piece of her thick brown hair fell softly down to frame her lovely face.

"_Ah want to make sure she's safe_," Elizabetta informed me with such seriousness, I but gave her a hand to lead her to the door of the boarding place.

I thought we would do nothing more than drop the fur creature off and then be upon our way. However, this was not the case. Instead, Elizabetta spoke to the veterinary doctor at some great lengths. She informed the doctor of when this sable fur last had a seizure, what her seizures typically were like, anything and everything the doctor could possibly ever wish to know –and more- in regards to the small fur thing. The dog, upon the other hand, found it far more interesting to watch the cats that were in a cage nearby. I did not blame her for I wished to hunt as well.

Once my love's question were all answered, she picked up her pet and kissed the creature repeatedly before handing the strawberry covered leash to veterinary assistant and nearly tearfully watching the sable fur trot off down the hall. Why such tears to be shed over a creature that was little more than a self walking floor mop was not explainable to me but I did know that Elizabetta loved it and therefore I could not hold anything against the creature.

I remained silent as my mate remained silent upon our drive to the next destination. My secret love had written upon a piece of paper directions to a place known as Home Depot. I had heard of the store but knew of none in the New York City area that I transversed. For any need of tools I might have had, that which I did not steal, I would buy through the mail. Though hardware stores existed from time to time in the great city, I had not been in one for many decades.

I thought my little treasure had again gone into her depression until I went to open the vehicle's door for her. She hopped out on her own and eyed me with her green eyes as if I had just done something displeasing to her. I thought on what I could have done on our drive to this large orange building but could think of nothing.

"_You_," she began, the finger of her creamy right hand pointing directly towards my chest. I was too shocked by her demeanor to teasingly grab her hand that she placed between us. "_Are not allowed to run around the store. If I say we need to go get something, we're going to a new aisle. Ah don't care how cool, how shiny, how interesting the item may be to you. Ah don't even care if you don't know what it is, we are goin' to get what we came for and nothin' else._ Understood?" she asked me, ending in my own native Italian. I found it interesting to note that she almost said the word "capisci" in a manner similar to my own but not in a mocking way. Rather, it was as if she had been to Naples and learned Italian at some point in her life.

Still, I could not help the smile brought to my lips by her words. Was she depressed regarding her sable fur, perhaps; but the far more pressing issue was that I was to behave by her terms within this store. Taking her hand that she had waged at me, I unfolded her fingers gently and kissed the creamy alabaster skin. I did take notice that much of her glare lost it's potency at that gesture. "_I promise_, my dear," I told her. Elizabetta's response was to sigh, brush past me in a slightly abrasive manner and grab the wheeled basket from a caravan of them within the parking lot.

I followed her obligingly and entered through the side doors of a porch area to this warehouse looking place. Immediately, I was assaulted with the smells of wood and dirt, metal and paint. It was hard to discriminate between which was more potent and I was simply pleased that I had fed the night before so that the mix of the smell of humans made little call to me. Glancing to my little treasure, I saw her brow wrinkle as she looked about the store.

"_We'll get the lightbulbs first,_" Elizabetta stated as her eyes gazed about large room. "_And we'll work our way down, alright_?" she more stated than asked. I could not respond; for when her eyes went to the large room, so did mine.

I had been within the large department stores and buildings of New York but never before had I seen such a spectacle as this. The grocery store, even the shopping center that my love called a mall, weren't akin to this. The warehouse was the store for everything was out on display for potential customers –not simply models or pictures as might have happened within my day. Upon the far end were many different types of wood cut in various ways so that one may make their own house or whatever else they may need. Upon the other end was an entire conservatory of plants, filled with many plants and smells. To the end in which we walked into, nearest the conservatory, laid before us were all sort of cushions. Beyond them to the left, going towards the myriad of plants, were different sets of furniture made for the out of doors.

What struck me more was the none of the humans that entered here seemed the slightest bit alarmed at the size of this place and the many tools, gardening, and construction pieces that were here. Elizabetta herself started to pull away only to once more give me a sour look as she saw my wonderment. "_C'mon, Gabriel. We don't have all day!_" she stated in frustration.

I followed wordlessly, unable to find any speech for this was not something I had seen before. The grocery store was the closest comparison –for what it was with food, this was with all things needed to build a home. Perhaps I could build one for my mate. Would she like such a thing and what style would she prefer? Of course, what I have learned of Elizabetta, I believe her to be displeased if I were to build anything. She did not like me as of yet and only seemed to withstand my presence due to our mutual need for protection against the Guard.

This thought wounded me. Again, I considered what would become of both my little treasure as well as myself if she never felt even the slightest measure for me as I do for her. I could not leave her. To her clan would I take her but I do not know what after that. Watch her continue to live her human life only to be so destructive upon her death that Death itself would need to take me? For what? I had considered as much upon the death of my son. I had no wish to go to Hell and yet where else would a demon such as I go? There was no place for me except upon this plane.

Then back to my old ways? If anything upon that hunt last night, I did learn, it was that I could not return to them. Elizabetta had changed me too fully for me to escape back to that what I once was.

I followed where she went; but to her Death could I not go. So what then? Make her immortal and have her resent me further? If I too made her a monster would she not loathe me as I loathed my creator? Edward did not hate his creator. However, such a relationship was built on the need to preserve life. I only wished to preserve the one before me.

Elizabetta walked towards the lightbulbs and picked up several. I held up but one, curious as to why she required so many. Would not one bulb work with her plan?

"_Why_?" I began to ask for I wished to know the reason behind the number of lightbulbs Elizabetta was to purchase. She quickly interrupted me, the finger of her right hand shaking before my visage, and a humorous smile upon her lips.

"_Remember your promise_?" she asked of me. I smiled back which did seem to confuse her based upon her vivid green eyes.

"_I promised only not to ask what things were and to not run amuck within the store. Other questions, such as why the need for so many lightbulbs, are still valid," _I pointed out. She sighed and began to move the basket forward, again folded over it much the same as she had in the grocery store.

"_Because of the stupid law they'll pass_," my savior stated, her brow knitted as she spoke. For once, her frustration was not at me but at this unknown "they".

"_What law is this_?" I asked as we continued on to the next aisle.

"_Congress will pass a law requiring all lightbulbs to be those stupid fluorescent twirly ones and not the incandescent ones soon and the twirly ones require a HAZMAT team if they break_," Elizabetta muttered with much disgust evident in her voice. She went to the duct work aisle though I did not understand why as her fingers graced the packages of duct ties.

"_Twirly ones?_" I questioned, attempting to recall seeing such a thing. My savior nodded.

"_They twirl up_," she stated, moving her index finger upon her right hand in an upwards spiral. I did not recall seeing such a creation.

"_And they have mercury in them"_ she stated as her attention was again diverted to the duct ties. "_I'd much rather step on glass than have to deal with mercury poisoning_," she muttered upon pulling a package of long duct ties from the rack before her.

I thought on her words carefully. If it had not yet gone through then was this something her Alice told to her? Also, why would such a need to stock up upon the items now arise? Would we not be able to once I returned her to her clan?

As soon as I thought to voice my questions, I heard an argument from the next aisle. We had moved to the area I had need to visit –electrics. I was surprised to see as many of the items as I would have to need here. Elizabetta assured me earlier that what I could not find here, most likely existed at our next stop or near it. As I examined the wires I would need, I heard a woman's voice raised for the aisle next.

"_I don't give two hoots about none of that. You best not be taking your time and just get what we came in to get_," this unknown woman informed some unknown person.

"_But honey you've_," a man's voice started only for him to be interrupted.

"_Don't you 'but honey' me. I've seen how long it takes you to make up your mind. Like how long it took you to even propose. A good seven years! And I ain't waiting around in this store for seven years_!" this woman stated loudly. At this point, I took a glance back at my Elizabetta who was most desperately trying not to laugh. Her face was half hidden as she leaned forward, biting down on those perfect deep rose colored lips. It was her green eyes that could not contain the laughter in them as she looked up at me. I could not help but smile back.

"_I just need to get some information on these ceiling fans, woman_," the man said, each word accentuated with his voice rising. My little treasure shook her head upon hearing the last word. She added a mumbled, "_He's in trouble_." As if the man was not already in trouble with such a wife or fiancé as the one he did currently have. It did not sound as if they had any love for each other so wife it must be for a fiancé was one that he could easily still leave.

Slience lasted but a few seconds before the woman reacted to her husband or fiancé's response. "_Then you best be getting it_," she stated as I placed the items in the basket.

"_That it_?" Elizabetta asked me in a hushed tone. When I nodded affirmatively, assuming she did not wish for the couple upon the other side to know they had any audience, we both moved out and on to the next aisle.

"_Cause you ain't getting any home if you keep this up_!" the woman shouted as we left the electrical department. Elizabetta's laughter was barely contained as her cheeks flushed a rosy red. Though the blood pulled in her face, I could not harm her. The hunt last night helped but I was also too filled with questions for did my secret love not find it odd for such behavior in such a public place where any may listen in? A wife to berate her husband so in such a manner was to be done in the privacy of ones home if at all. It was the husband that ruled the house though many a woman would force his hand.

"_You find that amusing_?" I asked as light heartedly as was possible once I was certain that we were too far from them to hear –assuming they could hear over their now tempered argument.

At my question, Elizabetta began to laugh, her voice ringing much to my wonderment. "_You didn't?_" she asked, her green eyes dancing with laughter. I found the situation odd for on one hand I did find the argument filled with much amusement but upon the other I felt something I could not explain.

"_You have heard many arguments such as that_?" I asked in an attempt to gain information given that my little treasure seemed to not find such an argument odd at all. Elizabetta shook her head and I noticed an odd look come across her face. Her eyes no longer held laughter and I instantly felt as if I had wronged her some how.

"_Mom and Dad sometimes, I guess_," she stated softly, her shoulders hunched as we continued our progress with our basket. A quick silence fell and Elizabetta spoke once more before I could fill the emptiness. "_That was a Rose and Emmett argument_," she said, again straightening her posture and a smile upon her lips as she looked on to me. I noticed well that she mentioned married couples –presumably couples that were married many years for she had explained before that Rosalie and Emmett were a mated pair in her clan and that "_Rose_" held no love for a human that knew of our existence. Was this than normal for modern married couples? I thought upon it more, recalling other times when I was hunting a meal or even existing upon the streets of New York; and in my shift of memories I did recall many similar such arguments where a couple who did still have love for the other fight in such a manner. Did not the great master playwright, Master Shakespeare, write of such couples? I recall Beatrice and Benedick being the source of much laughter in his play of Much Ado. They did sport and trade wit with insults in such a manner.

To the tools we went as another thought occurred to me, one that had begun to pick upon me the moment the woman in the argument spoke to her husband in impolite manner; was this not how Elizabetta spoke to me –to some degree- prior to our coming into this store? I continued to think about her sometimes brash manner and wondered if it was at all possible that such speech as she gave was not out of contempt but out of comfort? Was it that she was comfortable enough around me that she knew no words would force me away? Was that what Elizabetta considered of love? Was she to be my Beatrice and I her Benedick?

I shook such thoughts from my head. She was human. Humans did not behave in such a way towards each other until many years after marriage –not within a few days of having known each other. I allowed my own feelings towards her to dictate what she must feel. All she must feel is safe and loved for nothing else mattered to me.

We bought our items that we needed at the orange warehouse known as Home Depot only to go to another one known as Target, or as my savior corrected me, Targèt for she explained that it was a French owned store so, as a bit of sport, many English speaking humans declared it "_Targèt_". There I was able to find the rest of the supplies I needed as well as for Elizabetta to get but some paper towels and windex which she declared may be necessary. I was curious as to what type of place this was that she thought such items might become necessary.

I led my savior back to her vehicle. Upon entrance to the passanger side, she gazed upon my visage with sadness again in her eyes. "_We need to get to that other motel now, don't we_?"

I seated myself in the passenger side before answering my savior. "Yes, my dear," I stated as softly as I could now that all laughter was lost for her visage no matter how much I wished for it back. Of course, there was little reason to laugh now given what we were to go up against.

Elizabetta gazed out of the window once more and I thought upon her mood. I wished to keep her has contented as possible until the Guard came to us. Her fear was well founded, if that was what her currently melancholy was due too. However, was she not like this earlier about her sable fur?

"_Is_ _this all for your Miss Ginsie or are you melancholy because of the guard coming to us_?" I asked when my curiosity became too much. I also wished not for her to go back into the trace such as the one upon our leaving of Dunkirk. Despite that I could accomplish much on my own, it would be useful to have my savior's help upon setting of our trap. Speaking on to her so that she might answer should help her to not return to the trace like hysteria.

"_Both and plus some_," she muttered with her typically frustration lacing her tone. To this, I smiled. Her voice showed her spirit despite what her current posture.

I thought more upon the incident at the warehouse and wondered much if Elizabetta could ever think of me in any such terms as her mate. Though I had much doubt, perhaps there was a way to discover if she held any affection for me. Slowly, I took her hand into my own. A simple touch of her soft warm fingers against my own hard cold skin –that she did not pull away from- as I began to speak. "Little treasure, _I promise you, no harm will come to your pup. I will protect you with my existence as you protected me_," I whispered. Her sable fur was safe at the vet. With me, I would protect her at all costs for nothing was more precious to me any more. What had I held as important before this? My own existence? For even that seemed trivial if hers was at stake. I gently pulled at her hand, hoping that she may gaze upon me but no such move did she make. Rather, a half whispered "_Thank You_" I did receive; though she did not pull her hand from mine either.

We drove for a few more minutes in silence, her hand in mine, before she cast her green eyes my way. Her eyes narrowed upon my visage as if she was looking for something specific; of what I knew not. I squeezed her hand as gently as one might place a rose petal between their fingers to feel the softness of it. "_What is it_, Elizabetta?" I asked of her, wishing only to know her thoughts based upon her actions. I could not look upon her and not feel a smile upon my lips anymore.

"_I just wanted to make sure you went hunting last night_," she stated in an off handed manner before her green eyes were again cut off from me and returned to the window. "_Thank you_," she stated once more.

What I felt was both a combination of pride and humility. Pride for that I did what I thought I could not and humility for not having taken this option much earlier in my existence. How many lives did I end for my own greed of blood? Though many were criminals –monsters not too unlike myself- how many had not been? There were some I was unsure off, some who smelt too sweet. It had been my pride, my arrogance, that demanded only human blood but no longer could I kill that from wish my only love had sprung. That I too, half an eon ago, had come from.

"Of course, _I wished to be prepared_," I stated a bit too abruptly. My thoughts were a jumble of what ifs and of her that had changed me. I had not taken this new diet lightly. It was unnatural but , in that thinking, I had forgotten that I too was not natural. My love for this lady was not natural. Far too much was not natural and there was little I could control of it.

"_You were right. There were a great deal of black bears to the Western part of this state. Thank you,_" I informed my savior for it was upon her words that I took to this. It was upon her demands that I felt myself forced to be a vegetarian. Now, I am unsure if I ever would wish to go back. When I thought earlier of how my existence would be if I should loose Elizabetta's company –that I would destroy all that wronged her if she should die- their blood, at least, I would not take. "_I do not think I could stomach a deer_," I continued to which she gave a small hint of laughter.

"_Bear does taste better than deer_," my savior stated with much humor in her voice. "_Deer is much too sweet and salty at the same time but bear is pretty good_," she continued. Deer I knew was still eaten by some but not in any of the cities, I did think. It was a rural meat for those that did hunt and fish. I had not heard of a human tasting bear. Perhaps the Cullens were preparing her to be turned? They hunted and gave her the meat to eat? I furrowed my brow in thought as my little treasure looked upon me once more. "_Especially with mustard_!" she stated with much enthusiasm.

"_You've eaten…bear? I did not think it was a food much thought of for most humans anymore_," I responded to my goddess, Diana; my Elizabetta.

To her hands did her eyes go as she shoulders moved in a shrugging motion before her posture became one of a more introverted nature. "_I had friends that would hunt and fish. I'd go fishing once in a while but…_," my little treasure's voice trailed off before she looked up again quickly. I tried to picture this lady in such a common role as that of a fisherman. It did not fit her as I saw her until I thought upon the Bible. If my angel truly were an angel, well, were not many of the apostles fishermen when the Lord, our God, found them? Would not an angel fish then?

It also did not escape me that she again used the past tense in saying that she _had_ friends. She must still believe that she was thrust upon this time from another, from one world into another. Of course, upon meeting vampires, what else would one believe?

"_They'd send or bring back things like venison jerky or roasted bear meat. It was…different, but not bad_," my love continued.

I took the slip road to the next highway before I replied. Her words brought to mind many things for this unnatural situation compounded many times over with more situations that were themselves not previously known to me or natural in themselves; before this, I considered unnatural to be bad but what was I but a demon, the very definition of bad? That these things I now found myself doing -falling in love with a human, drinking the blood of animals- these were not bad. "_No, it's not bad. Simply different_," I whispered. She smiled upon me which brought a smile on to my own visage.

It was at that moment I saw the sign for the hotel in which Elizabetta wished to perform this arson act. She declared it the "White House Motel" and I had noticed the hint of laughter in her eyes when she spoke of it. It was not until this moment I realized why.

"What the…?" I stopped myself from cursing in this lady's presence but only just. To say that this place was a rat motel would be an affront to rodents everywhere. It was to an establishment such as this that I would sooner think to find my more traditional meal than to ever let my lady's presence grace it.

"_You are not staying here_," I informed her as my eyes found the filth and rubbish littered upon the gravelway. I drove over much and found this building beyond wanting the closer we came to it. The film left upon the windows themselves was thicker than the glass. The motel was once white but had a thin gray and green moss growing about it. The roof itself had not been repleaced or seen a thatcher since the time of my lady's birth. I dared not to consider what the insides of such a place may look like.

"_We have to. This is the perfect place to create a nice little bonfire_," Elizabetta told me as her creamy alabaster hands moved to undo her seatbelt. She twisted so that the top of her dark hair covered head was but a few inches from me. I knew she meant to get out of the vehicle but I could not allow her to do so. This was not a place for a lady but for the monsters of both her world and mine.

"_No_," I stated as emphatically as I might. I did not wish to simply sit here and waste the precious gas within the tank of her vehicle so I turned it off but kept my position for I would turn it back on again the moment Elizabetta agreed to leave and find a more suitable place. "_This is no place for you_," I informed her. My savior's response was to roll her green eyes in a hopeless gesture before moving to grasp the door, prying it open but an inch before I was able to grab her a stop her from leaving. Did she not see as I did? Were her eyes too weak to see the danger that lurked here? Perhaps. Perhaps that is why she was able to save me to begin with for no lady with stronger eyes would venture down a nearly empty street only to turn towards an alley where two fearsome creatures were.

Upon my hold on her, her eyes darted to my hand and then to me, narrowing. My stilled heart realized what hope it had before of any affection towards me was nothing more than what I constructed in my own mind. This journey we were on together was out of self preservation for Elizabetta. Her green eyes destroyed any hope I had of more towards me.

"_Look, what are you going to do, Gabriel?_" she began, her eyes never leaving my face as her anger grew at myself. Though any hope for affection was gone, I was gladdened to see she made no more moves to leave the vehicle. If only she did not force me from her presence. "_Find somewhere else where there might be actual families and not just the bottom feeders of human society_?" she questioned. So her eyes did see what I saw!

Her gaze softened and turned to the front of the vehicle, tilting her head in a manner that she was almost like a small child. "_Actually, I doubt even another soul other than us and the owner is here given the lack of cars,_" she said softly, all anger gone from her voice. Maybe all hope was not lost and her temper was but a flare – quickly and impressively lit but also quickly gone. It did not escape me that she used the word _soul_ in which to describe us however it is but a figure of speech. I have no soul any longer. She is my soul though she does not know it. "…_Unless it's one of those by the hour places and it will be packed tonight_," Elizabetta continued.

To this, I knew not how to respond. That such a lady as my savior would know of such an establishment that was used not as a place of rest –for I have quickly learned over the past few days that humans need far more than merely a hour to sleep- but for other activities… The lustful part of me began to think of how badly I wished to engage in those activities with my angel but the man was aghast that such an innocent would know of such a place to begin with.

Her eyes returned to my visage it was upon me she looked quizzingly. "_What_?" she asked of me. How could I voice to her my surprise at her knowledge? I knew I could not because to do she may take as an insult which I had no wish to do. Instead, I pulled her as close as I dared, her sweet smelling skin but a few centimeters from my lips as I spoke unto her.

"_Listen to me_, my dear," I begged of her. My angel closed her eyes at my words but her breaths stayed even as her jaw tightened but slightly.

"_I stated to your little clan that I would not allow any harm to come to you upon my own existence and I meant it well. This place is nothing but harm and I will not let you grace its threshold_," I promised her. She demanded to be released per her actions and I let my hand slip from her left arm. My hand trailed down her knit covered arm, my fingers brushing by her hand.

"_Oh really_?" my savior asked. I gave but one nod in response for though she may take this as a challenge, I would not let her leave this vehicle. Rather than attempt to leave, she turned to me and spoke again.

"_Well then, what are you going to do with me_?" she asked . This was not a question I understood readily for I would simply take her away from here. I knew not what after that. "_For as much as you think of me, I am not a gentlewoman, Gabriel. I am, or was, paid to think all day. I did that. A lot_," she continued and I realized my error. She mistook my not wishing her here for my thinking her to be frail. She was frail in the sense she was a human and I knew her well to be wise. I cursed myself for making Elizabetta think for one moment that I believed her to be unable to take care of herself. "_This was my idea_. _You can't just let me sit out because you think I might catch some skin disease in this God-Forsaken place_," she said as her voice rose in volume. Tears pooled in her green eyes, making them look even more like emeralds. Her words meant nothing compared to the pain I saw in her eyes. Her pain was to be my pain and I would take it all upon myself if I could.

Raising her right hand, her index finger pressed against my chest in a manner meant to intimidate but I found myself so far cursed that it only added to my pain. I had caused the anger, the hurt, the pain in Elizabetta's eyes and there was little I could do regarding it. "_You are not allowed to dictate what I can and cannot do. I'm going in there. I'm going to set up and wait until tomorrow when all hell breaks loose. Because if I don't and the Volturi realize we've broken up, how do you think either one of us will fare_?" she pointed out quickly. It was with this I realized why she so badly wished to go into this place. If I did take her and leave here, would I come back? Perhaps. We knew the Guard would come here and it would give me a chance to stop them on my own. Even if I did not, then how long would it be before the Guard came after us again? Until the caught us?

What would the Guard do to one such as my angel? That they would kill her was not the question but whether they would be kind enough to not cause her pain was. I had heard of some of the tortures over the years reserved for humans that knew too much or discovered too much. They did not end well.

"_You'd have all the fire power and you might get one or two of the guards but what would I do? Would you just leave me or would you be willing to part with a match or two_?" she inquired and I knew well what she meant. The Guard may split upon the realization that we had split. If they knew I was in this trap alone and my savior was elsewhere, how quickly would they go after her? I released Elizabetta's arm completely now for I had taken her right arm upon her finger pointed at my chest. My instinct was to not allow her to damage herself for I thought for but a moment she may move to hit me. I may well deserve such a slap but it would hurt her far more physically than such an action could hurt me.

My savior knew the risks. She knew of what may happen and yet she still wished to go forward with this plan. "_As this is of your own free will, so shall I follow_," I told her softly as I dared so that her human ears may still hear it. Even that seemed to cause her pain for her eyes closed and she gazed away from me.

She left my side, opening the passenger side door to take the bags that she would normally carry with her as if this were but another hotel. I made no move to stop her, let her carry on as if the Guard were not after us. As if they would not destroy us.

When I saw her begin to walk towards what must be the reception for this motel, I got out and went around the vehicle. Nearly afraid of being rebuffed, I place my hand upon her shoulder to stop her. It was not that I did not believe her capable, only that she should be given as little trouble as was needed upon this day. By the looks of the motel, the reception would be a great deal of trouble. "_Please, allow me_?" I asked. It was my job as a man to take care of such a thing; yet I wished not to have Elizabetta feel as something lesser for the sake of her sex. It was that she was my savior and my mate that I also wished to go rather to have her go. If I held not the feelings of love for her, then I would think she was far more capable than any other human to deal with whatever laid behind the front office door.

Her shoulders moved up as she attempted to shrug, I suppose. My answer was in that she turned away from me and went back to her vehicle rather than continuing to the front office. Though no fear of germs or illness had I in five hundred years, the thought of touching the knob to the reception area was enough to re-enliven that fear once more. It may have been brass once but the dirt corroded upon it made it look as if it were made of something far less pleasant.

Upon my entrance to the dimly lit room, I saw an older man sitting behind the unfashionable dark wood counter. Orange and red carpet dressed up the sides of the desk in a manner such as I had not seen in nearly thirty years. I believe that was also the last time the carpet had been cleaned.

No words did the man speak until he got up from his goldenrod colored chair and place down his cigarette. The room was filled with smoke and smelt of both it and mold. This did not help my fears for what Elizabetta may breathe in this night in our own room. "It's thirty five for the night," he coughed giving no clue to his accent. His face was well weathered to the point that he may be of any race. I nodded and placed the cash down as he placed the key upon the counter. His hand immediately went to grab the green paper upon the counter, as he gazed past me through the darkened windows. I need not follow his gaze to know the cause of his smile. The only thing in that direction was Elizabetta and her vehicle. The look in the eyes of this old man as he gazed upon her nearly made me kill him.

My hand reached up towards his throat. From lust to alarm did his eyes go in that split second. It was only the squeak of the tailgate to Elizabetta's vehicle that saved him. I knew it was my mate opening the back door to her truck and I knew what she would wish for in this situation. I would not kill him.

My hand went down from his throat and the man's eyes still were filled with fear. However, for good measure, I growled at him before turning to leave. Nothing more needed to be said.

I walked quickly towards Elizabetta. No matter what she would say to me, I was relieved to have her again in my sight and near me. Thinking only of getting her inside, I grabbed the box of tools and whatever else I may only to see my savior looking upon my form. I stopped midway and wished only to make sure of her decision. "_Are you sure this is what you wish_?" I asked once more.

She tilted her head, gazing upon me as if the answer was obvious. "_What choice do I have_?" my angel again pointed out. I but nodded and took the canister of gasoline along with the box of tools towards the door that would lead to our room.

"_Then let us prepare_," I stated. I was unsure even within myself as to whether I meant for what was beyond the door or the Guard. The key was still upon the index finger of my left hand to which I managed to balance the various items I held in my arms and use the key to open the door to our room. I was curious as to what level of Hell this was upon opening the door. Certainly, there had to be a level in which such grime and filth was where one would stay –unable to ever get it clean.

I stopped in the doorway as the smells assaulted me. Dried blood was the first one I could only faintly smell. What was far more distressing was the mix of dried human fluids coming from the bed where more than one whore had laid down for a man's lust. On top of that were the smells of mold, of smoke, and of a thousand other things I did not even think I could name. In all my five hundred and twenty one years I had never smelt anything so revolting rolled into one as this. I was surprised that my human mate did not vomit at the smell. Perhaps it was too weak for her nose.

Instead, she entered it and looked around as if judging it for it's character. "_Well, I guess this will make for the perfect horror movie_," Elizabetta stated before her green eyes met my now amber ones. "_We've got vampires, creepy motels, and bomb making equipment. All we need is the dumb blond in high heels running away from the swamp thing that I think lives in the bathroom here and we'll be set_!" she continued in a teasing but cheerful voice. Her smile only broke as I looked upon her as if she were truly insane. Not only is she not fearful of vampires but she has no fear of such a place as this?

"_What is it_?" Elizabetta asked as she turned around to once more take a look upon the room. "_Oh God, it's not blood is it? I brought some cleaners because I figured this place might at least need some windex but…_" she stated in a hurried and worried manner. Her eyes squinted as she looked for something unknown to me.

"_No_," I informed her. My sweet goddess turned quickly, to the point I almost believed that she was not human once more. "_It's not blood_," I told her. Of course, there was blood but that was not the issue. Dried blood smelt to me as a rotten piece of fruit might smell to my savior. "_But there are many other things that I would much rather not smell_," I continued as I moved to her side.

"_Like what_?" she asked with all the innocence of a child. I could not help but to smile.

It was her curiosity at the world around her that I loved so greatly. She always seemed to wish for knowledge above all else. I moved to place my lips upon the top of her head. A soft touch of her warm alabaster skin against my mouth as I have done before. She did as was her custom, to scowl at me but make no other move against me. I ignored it, thinking again upon my thoughts earlier regarding Benedick and Beatrice in Master Shakespeare play.

As I looked upon the wooden table –it seemed to have some rot but not enough to destroy it's integrity as a table- I slowly placed the items I carried upon it. "_That is not for your innocent ears to hear, _little treasure," I informed her. The table did not break, to which I was glad. It was then that I answered her knowing well that my savior would demand an answer.

She said nothing as she looked about for a place to put the bags she had upon her shoulders. I was to state that the dresser may be an option when she saw it and went to carefully place the plastic bags down first. It was clear by her movements that my little treasure had no wanting to touch the objects in this room. Immediately upon placing the bags on the low lying dresser, she did jump back and look upon the wooden chest of drawers as if it were the predator and not myself.

"_I umm_…" she said as her breathing turned shallow. Her eyes darted around the room quickly and I moved closer, hoping that my angel realized this was no place for her. "_I'm going to go get those cleaners_," she informed me as she silently asked for the keys. I gave them knowing that no amount of soap and water could cure the grime that lay thick in this carpet. I was unsure of what color it was truly. Perhaps a beige? The mud, smoke, and dust were so thick upon the fibers that –what was left of the carpet- was a dull grey. Too many cigarette holes had been burned into it around the bed to truly call it a carpet anymore and it was well worn from a thousand different footsteps upon the enterance.

As I began to take out the items I should have need of for making the remote detonator to attach to the light – I dared not look upon the light fixture itself given the state of the rest of the room- I heard another vehicle pull upon the gravel lot. The music was loud and not of the stuff I had grown accustom to while traveling in my Elizabetta's vehicle. I could not hear how many additional humans there were but I also thought little of them and only wished to work upon our plan and await Elizabetta returning to the room.

What I did hear made the man in me roar with rage. The way the men called to my mate, the way they placed their lips together to whistle at her, it took every ounce of sanity I had to not act as a vampire and destroy them. I walked at as quick a human pace as would still look human and placed Elizabetta behind me. The one creature that emerged from the vehicle had begun to walk over to my savior much to the laughter of the others. I knew that these men were the kind that I had hunted but a week ago. I dared not guess what they would consider to try and do to my human lady. On instinct, I bore my teeth and growled a warning at this creature, my right arm keep Elizabetta firmly behind me.

The creature stopped and stepped back, his arms raised in protection. It would not help him if I did attack. "_Woah,"_ he stated as he took another step towards his vehicle. "_Sorry dude. Didn't know she was your woman_," he continued. Upon his words, his only saving grace at this moment, the only thing that would save his life, was an apology to my savior.

"_You will apologize to her, immediately_!" I informed him, barely containing my anger. I wished badly to destroy him and the rest of his party. It was only that I could hear the heartbeat, feel the warmth, of the creature behind me and know that she was safe that currently saved him.

Elizabetta's heart rate was quickened almost to the point I remember hearing it that night she saved me. I had no wish to scare her but I did wish to terrify the creature before me.

"_Sorry, lady. You got a good man there_," the man stated. He bowed his head and began to take another step back. I growled again as I wrapped my arm around Elizabetta; placing myself between her and this creature. I covered her as best I could until we got back into the room. Without much thought, I closed the door and rested my fists against it.

"_While we are here and until the entire guard situation is settled, I will not let you out of my sight_," I informed her. The last person I did not let leave my sight was my former wife though for a very different reason. Elizabetta I did so out of protection, for the wanton whore that was my adulteress wife, it was to prevent any further shame coming upon our family –if possible.

As if she could read my very thoughts, Elizabetta spoke. "_Were you ever married_?" she asked as if all that had just occurred outside was nothing more than a bad dream. It was a rather normal question but not in a situation such as this. I turned around quickly, no fear of being made as something unnatural in front of my secret love, and looked directly at her.

"_What_?" I asked for I could not believe the simplicity of the question given what had just occurred. Was she not still scared? Would she not cry from fear? Her manners were as if she had not just been in the situation she just was. Did she not fear those creatures that were in that other vehicle? I heard them leave to which I was grateful for if Elizabetta slept while they were near, their lives would quickly be forfeit. Or was it as I had thought hours ago now, that she did trust me and therefore thought fear something unnecessary?

Her perfect green eyes rolled once more as she walked further into the room. Tearing a piece of paper cloth from its roll, she used it as a handkerchief between her bare hand and the knob the to water closet door. "_Did you have a wife_?" she asked again, accentuating each word as she spoke it in annoyance. I had taken my place again to collect the wires that I had dropped upon hearing those creatures call at her.

Upon opening this door, I saw her move back and I could only guess at why as the smells of mold and film further assailed my nostrils. I thought upon what to tell her and looked down at the pieces of the detonator in my hands. "_Yes_," I replied.

I had always tried not to think upon my human life but I could not keep such information from Elizabetta as she asked for it. To think upon my life when I still had a soul, when I was not a demon, was to think upon my son. "_It was an arranged marriage. We had one child, a son, and so I let her be after that to do as she willed_," I told her. I still missed my only child, Francesco, despite the passage of time. Time only forces you to get stronger so that you may exist, it never truly heals the pain.

"_She married again not two weeks past my disappearance for there was enough blood at the scene where I was changed to show that I was dead_," I continued. I thought upon my former wife's marriage day for she married one of the adulterers I had caught her with. It was if she had planned all along to have me dead. Of course it was I, who, in the end, brought about a final justice.

I gazed upon my goddess of the moon, my Diana, and knew she would never act in the way my former wife did. I had seen how loyal Elizabetta was to her sable fur alone and to her clan. She was not one to break a promise lightly.

The pea green chair at the table did Elizabetta pull upon. Her nose scrunched up in disgust as she looked at it and then threw many of the emptied plastic bags down on it before she would grace the chair with her bum. I was unsure whether to laugh or praise her for realizing how revolting the chair truly was.

"_When were you changed_?" she asked next. I grounded the wires as Elizabetta pulled upon the many bags, searching through them as she asked her question. I suppose she wished to know at what age I died, at what age did I become frozen forever into this cursed existence.

"_The summer of 1523. Why this sudden curiosity of my life_?" I inquired. She did not ask such questions when we had sat within much cleaner hotel rooms than this or as I drove her vehicle. I did not mind her asking but if there was something behind it, then that could I answer too.

Again, she shrugged all the while looking through the many plastic bags we both brought in. "_I don't know. Just figured I'd ask is all_," she stated in an off handed manner. A smile crept upon her face as she held up the light bulbs I place upon the floor. It was quickly gone as she looked at the underside of the table from her vantage point. I could only guess at what was there.

As if in an effort to make conversation, she asked yet another question. "_So what was with the church_ _the other day_?" she asked as she gazed upon me from beneath her long dark eyelashes. "_You weren't really scared God was going to smite you, were you? Or that you'd turn into a pile of ash when you walked in? Because, as cool as that would be to see I seriously doubt_…" she rattled on. The idea of simply walking into a church and turning to ash made me laugh. Or, rather, what Elizabetta's reaction would have been had that happened. I could see her get angry with God and glare upon every crucifix or other symbol of Him only to stomp her feet and tell God to restore me or she would fight Him. It would not matter that he was God and she was still a very human lady.

"_No, that I was not fearful of that. I only fear myself and what I remember_," I informed her. Of course, that was not enough information for my mate. She looked upon my visage as if awaiting more of a story. I sighed and placed the completed detonator to the side. It did not need much to be reworked so that the light fixture would turn on. In fact, the remote switch was precisely that and I only added more wires so that it would fit snuggly behind the light fixture were it would be hard to see.

"I _remembered feeling guilty about not loving my wife as I should have when I was human_," I stated. I recalled not feeling enough for my wife for she had taken two lovers that I knew of to our marriage bed. "_She_…" I began only to rethink my words. I did not wish to retell the shame brought upon my family. If nothing else, she still was the mother of my child. "_Was not my type I suppose would be the phrase one would use of this day_, little treasure," I spoke in her modern tongue. A half a smile came to her lips before another roll of her lovely green eyes. However, it was clear she wished for me to continue as her fingers managed to take the sharp point she had and drill a small hole into the lightbulb. I watched in fascination at how careful she was with the glass object.

"_The last time I had been in a church, prior to the other day, was to try to convince the priest to speak on my behalf so I might be granted an annulment. I had no love for my wife and did not wish ill of her but I had seen her eyes gaze to another's_," I told her as matter as factly as I could. It was more than her eyes that had gazed upon another but there was no need to speak ill of those long dead. I gently took the lightbulb from my savior to fill it with gas. There was a funnel that worked well to prevent gas from spilling. I was more wary of the fumes than of the décor.

"_So, rather than have her take a lover, I pleaded with the priest to allow a communication to the bishop at the time for an annulment. He refused…_" I lied slightly. She had already taken a lover but it was but a small point. The greater was what I did to the priest. "_So I killed him_," I admitted. Until that moment, I was still human. I was still capable of being saved. After I destroyed a man of God, God himself could not forgive me. I could not forgive myself for my weakness.

I was quiet as I took the gasoline filled lightbulb and placed it in the light fixture. It was a standard mount but one that was from half a century ago. The old bulb was of little use since it had burned out based upon the look of it. We would not have light in here when the sun set.

Elizabetta now knew I was a monster as a human as well as being a vampire now. She too was quiet even when she spoke again. "_What did you do then_?" she asked as if a child asking for the rest of the fairy tale story.

I smiled slightly at this precious treasure. She did not run though she knew of what I was. Her only request was more information. I left the light fixture to obtain the remote detonator. "_Don't flip the switch_," I said as I saw her squint into the darkening room.

"_I don't want to even touch it_," she said beneath her breath, awaiting more of my story.

"_I ran_," was all I simply said upon attaching the detonator. I glanced into Elizabetta's awaiting eyes before explaining what happened next in my story. Like a coward, I ran from all my problems. "_I ran into the woods, straight into the arms of a beautiful woman_," I ribbed slightly. Elizabetta did not take the bait.

"_Your creator_?" she breathed in a manner that I found odd. I was expecting an eye roll again from my savior. It seemed to fit the previous pattern of banter. Still, I nodded. I recalled running from the church. I dropped my sword and left the screaming and the blood behind. I did not know where to go, so to the woods I fled. I would be killed if I went back to my home for none could kill a priest and live so I thought enough through to run to the woods were the other devils hid. I did not know how right I was until she bit me.

I was only a few feet beyond the road when a flash of white blurred before my eyes. I know I called out only to receive laughter as my answer. I felt her cold arms embrace me before her teeth found my neck. I struggled and thrashed but this woman that held me was far too strong for me. All I did in the process was break my arm and cut myself, blood freely flowing through the cuts onto the ground. I never did get a proper look at her face.

I recall the pain well. The moment she bit into my neck, I felt as if on fire. The fire coursed through me as my blood left me. I remember hearing someone else near –or something- when she dropped me into the dirt and left me there to die. It was there by the side of the road I was transformed from a human monster to Death himself. It was a simple transformation for I was already dead either way.

"_She probably thought she finished me but I survived the three days of change. When I awoke into this life, I only wanted to rid it of evil, such as I had become before my change_," I attempted to tell her without much emotion. When I awoke after those three days, I knew I was a demon. I thirsted badly for blood and took the first poor creature I happened upon. He was the town beggar, blind by birth, who I had given many alms to over the course of his life. It was his misfortune to greet me that day upon the road for all I wished for was blood. It was not until after I drained him of his that I recognized him for who he was. I swore to only take the blood of sinners after that.

"_Temporary insanity and evil are two very different things, Gabriel_," my angel lectured me. They were but I was not insane when I killed the priest. Rather, I remember that moment in vivid detail. It had been an option I dismissed when I traveled into town; to kill the priest should he not give into my demands. It was only after I killed him I did not dismiss the option as easily as I thought. However, such a point I did not wish to spend the night arguing over so I chose to point out that she should take her rest instead.

"_You should try and sleep if they are to come tomorrow_," I said as I looked upon the bed. I believe Elizabetta had blankets that could be put down and then for her to sleep on top of them. Maybe the bed she should not sleep in. If we went back to the large store and bought a cot, it would be safe and she could get her rest.

"_There is no way in God's green Earth that Ah am evah gonna even touch that bed let alone sleep on it_," my little treasure stated definitely. On this, I did not blame her. "_Ah'm pretty sure it's diseased."_

I went for a closer look at the blanket that covered the bed. It had stains from many human fluids even on top of it along with burn marks and several other bits of mud and dust. A cot was in order. "_I think you may be correct in that assessment but you do need to sleep_," I pointed out to her but Elizabetta stood firm. She shook her head upon my suggestion.

"_I'll sleep tomorrow, when we are at a real hotel with a real bed and a real bath,_" she informed me, emphasizing _real_ as if she thought this more of a fantasy land or a nightmare. " _For now, I can stay awake. I'll just be grumpy. I think the smell alone is enough to prevent me from fallin' asleep anyway_," she muttered. I could not help but smile at that. Was not my first thought upon stepping into the room that it smelt of refuse and other foul things? I was curious as to how Elizabetta could not smell it and now know she did. She just did not mention it upon entry.

If she was to stay up for the entire night, then perhaps I could as some questions of my own. I knew of her life with the Cullens to a degree but none of before that. I had seen the look in her eyes when she mentioned her parents in the warehouse and I wished to know more. Perhaps this night would be a chance to learn much more about my love.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hopefully this turned out okay. The last ten pages or so were written when I was sick so I have no idea if they even make sense, let alone sound right. Review, please, and tell me?


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